#caspa 2016-2017

[populationpensive]

For those of you in the thick of selecting schools for CASPA, this article was something that I found helpful in my own selection process.

[populationpensive]

Hi!! I hope you are doing great! I have a question about CASPA, is it better to put your grades in yourself or to pay them to do it? I'm debating on what to do at the moment. Thank you!

Hi @prepas,

Thanks for the ask and for checking in! I am cheap as fuck, so I just did it myself. :-) I suppose if you had a lot of transcripts it might be worth it; then again, I had 4 official transcripts and it wasn’t a big deal putting them in. Just make sure you have an official copy of each one that you can stare at and just plug everything in. I took 2 hrs for me to do 4 of them. Plug it all in, then, like 2 days later, double check everything carefully. If you entered something in incorrectly, it lengthens your verification time.

Good luck!

-Poppi

[populationpensive]

CASPA 2016-2017 Masterpost

If you recall, last year after I finished my applications I did a Master post about the new CASPA platform. I am updating that original post for 2016-2017 cycle. While I do not have to apply again (thank goodness!) if you have to, you have migrate your old app into this year’s cycle. I noticed only a few cosmetic changes, which I have changed below. The rest is still the same. Good luck guys!

Home Screen

Format is slightly different in that you have easier to navigate bars at the top to add programs, submit apps, check status, etc. One of the features I like best is that as you complete things, the module starts to turn green. The home screen splits up the application into 4 major sections: personal info, academics, supplemental materials, and program materials. You can also select and manage your programs.

Add Programs

You can select all your programs from this menu. It has nice search features based on start times, deadlines, and location. Click the blue plus sign and poof! You added a program!

When you click on my program selections, it takes you to a screen with only your chosen programs. It had nice, easy to read bars that tell you how complete the application is for that school. Once the full bar is green with a check mark, you are golden! I also like that it gives you a running total of your programs and how much it will cost. That way, you can plan appropriately.

Check Status

The check status bar gives you an easy to read map of submission. You can see each school individually and know that your application and supporting materials were received.

***The following block quote is from the 2015-2016 cycle. Here it was a bitch to find your CASPA GPA. You had to look at the PDF for an individual app. Since I am not actually submitting and verifying, I cannot vouch that this is the same.***

Additionally, you can see that it is verified. My only quibble with this screen is that it is the only place to find your CASPA calculated GPA. If you click on the blue download box in the upper right hand corner of any of the schools, you get the CASPA PDF of your application. Scroll down and you’ll find your GPAs calculated. I really think the location of this is counter intuitive, but that’s just me.

Program Materials

When you go back to the home screen, you can click on program materials and have the ability to track the completeness of each school’s application. This is a super important page because many schools have supporting questions or prereq coursework verification here.

Above is the page for Northwestern. The home screen gives you information about the school.

Here, they will tell you if there is a supplemental application which is awesome because then you don’t have to search each site individually to check and see.

Some, but not all, of the schools have a prereq page where you have to select courses from your transcript that match their prereqs.

Some, but not all, of the schools have additional questions. This ranges from essay questions to procedural questions and releases.

Academics

This page is where you list all of your schools, do your transcript entry, and submit unofficial test scores. Pretty self explanatory but there is one new feature that was not there last year. Because you can answer questions for the program materials page (i.e. confirm prereqs, etc) you need to review and finalize your transcript. When you review the transcripts, you confirm if credits were obtained from AP exams, CLEP exams, and confirm repeated courses.

Supporting Materials

This section has the essay submission, experiences, evaluations, and release sections etc.

Pretty self explanatory. The experiences section gives you several options for experiences: patient care, health care, volunteer, shadow, research, employment. Note: there is not section for leadership positions! This is super unfortunate and a huge mishap in the application. I listed my leadership positions as volunteer and mentioned in the comment box that they were elected positions. Hopefully they will fix this for next year.

And there you have it! A review of CASPA! Over all, the format is great. Very visual and allows you to see what needs to be done. The verification process has been averaging about 10-12 days right now, though I’m sure that will pick up in August.

Good luck with your CASPA!