Challenge

Veterinary education demands more than academic success. Students must demonstrate sound judgment, empathy, professionalism, and the ability to communicate clearly under pressure. Traditional admissions tools made it difficult to consistently assess these attributes across large applicant pools.

Admissions teams across Australia and New Zealand faced several challenges:

• Academic metrics alone could not capture interpersonal and professional competencies.
• Personal statements and interviews were subjective and required significant time and resources.
• Growing applicant volumes increased pressure to make fair, timely, and defensible decisions.
  

Programs needed an approach that aligned with the realities of veterinary practice while supporting equity and consistency across applicants.

Solution

Veterinary science admission teams across Australia and New Zealand adopted Casper to gain clearer insight into applicant readiness and support fair, defensible decisions at scale.

This empowered programs to strengthen admissions in the following ways:

Assessing non-academic skills at scale

• Use realistic, profession-relevant scenarios that ask applicants to respond in real time
• Reveal how candidates reason, communicate, and demonstrate professionalism under pressure

Aligning selection with veterinary practice

• Evaluate competencies central to veterinary education and practice, including soft skills
• Reflect the realities students encounter in clinical, research, and client-facing settings

Integrating seamlessly into existing admissions workflows

• Fit smoothly alongside academic review without replacing it.
• Provide meaningful insight without adding administrative burden or relying on subjective tools.

Supporting consistency across institutions

• Used by leading programs, including University of Adelaide, James Cook University, and Charles Sturt University.
• Every veterinary science program in the region relies on Casper to create a shared foundation for fair, consistent selection.
  

Results

By incorporating Casper into admissions, veterinary programs across Australia and New Zealand have strengthened how they select future students. Admissions teams gain a more complete view of applicants and greater confidence in final decisions.

Programs report several benefits:

• Stronger admissions confidence through consistent, structured assessment of non-academic skills
• Fairer and more defensible decision-making across large applicant pools
• Improved efficiency by reducing reliance on resource-intensive interviews and subjective tools
• Better alignment between admitted students and the interpersonal and ethical demands of veterinary education

Veterinary education prepares professionals for complex decisions and emotionally demanding work. Admissions choices shape who enters that responsibility. Casper helps programs select students who are ready not only for the academic rigor, but also for the human realities of veterinary practice.