Scores & Results
How Long Do CASPer Results Take?
Two to three weeks from your test date. That is the answer, and it has been stable for years. What is worth understanding is why it takes that long, why it sometimes lands closer to three weeks than two, and how to plan a test date so the wait never becomes your problem.
The short answer
- Typical wait: 2 to 3 weeks after your test date.
- What you get: a quartile from 1 to 4, not a raw score.
- Your schools: receive it as part of the same release.
- Rush option: none exists.
What happens during those weeks
The delay is not administrative slowness. CASPer is human-marked, and the marking design is the reason the score means anything at all.
Week 1: distributed human rating
Your responses are split up and sent to different trained raters, so no single person marks your whole test. That is deliberate. One rater having a bad day, or simply reading you unfavourably, then affects one section rather than your entire result.
Week 2: cohort comparison
Quartiles are relative, not absolute. Your ratings only convert into a quartile once enough people who sat the same test form have been marked. This is the step that makes the timeline dependent on other people rather than just on you.
Week 2 to 3: release and distribution
Your quartile is published to your account, you are emailed, and the programs on your distribution list receive it. You do not forward anything yourself.
This is also why the score cannot be appealed in any meaningful way and why there is no per-scenario feedback. There is no single grader to query, and your quartile is a position relative to a cohort rather than a mark on a rubric you could contest. If you want to understand what the quartile itself means, we break it down in CASPer scoring explained.
Why some people wait longer than others
Three things stretch the window toward the three-week end.
- Peak season. Sittings in the busiest weeks before major deadlines feed far more tests into the same rating pipeline. Volume slows everything.
- Smaller test forms. Less common program categories have smaller cohorts, so the comparison step needs longer to accumulate enough marked tests.
- Late program additions. If you add a school after results are released, that distribution is handled separately and arrives after your own result did.
How to plan your test date around the wait
The wait only hurts people who did not budget for it. Work backwards from the deadline rather than forwards from today.
| Step | Time to allow |
|---|---|
| Your earliest school CASPer deadline | Day zero |
| Minus results processing | 3 weeks |
| Minus a safety buffer for a tech failure or illness | 2 weeks |
| Minus preparation time | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Start preparing by | 7 to 9 weeks before the deadline |
That buffer row is the one people delete, and it is the one that saves applications. If your webcam dies on test day and you have two weeks of slack, you rebook. With no slack, you have a problem your score cannot fix. Our guide to picking your CASPer date goes through this against real cycle timelines.
What to do while you wait
Honestly, nothing about CASPer. There is no action available to you, no way to improve a submitted test, and no partial information to interpret. Rereading your answers from memory is a reliable way to feel worse without learning anything, because a response that felt clumsy to you often rates fine, and one you were proud of can rate average.
The useful move is to put the two to three weeks into the rest of your application. If you are also sitting the MCAT in the same cycle, our MCAT and CASPer timeline shows how the two fit together without either one eating the other.
If a deadline is genuinely at risk
Email the program, not Acuity. Schools set their own CASPer deadlines and many have a stated position on scores that arrive shortly after, particularly if you sat the test well before the cut-off. A short, factual email with your test date is worth sending. Acuity cannot speed up your result, so contacting them achieves nothing.
The takeaway
Two to three weeks, no exceptions, no rush option, and your schools get it at the same time you do. The wait is a fixed cost of a human-rated test, so the only thing you control is the date you book. Give yourself three weeks for processing plus two weeks of buffer, and results timing stops being something you have to worry about.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do CASPer results take?+
Around two to three weeks from your test date. Acuity Insights needs that window because every response is read by multiple human raters, and your quartile is calculated against everyone who sat the same test form. There is no faster tier and no way to pay for a rush.
Do your schools get your CASPer score at the same time you do?+
Effectively, yes. Distribution to the programs on your list happens as part of the same release, so schools are not waiting on you to forward anything. If you add a program after results are out, that distribution is processed separately and takes a little longer.
Why do CASPer results take weeks instead of days?+
Because it is not machine-marked. Each section of your test is scored by a different trained rater, which spreads out individual bias. Those raw ratings then have to be converted into a quartile relative to everyone else who took that test form, which cannot happen until enough of that cohort has been marked.
Can you get your CASPer results faster?+
No. There is no expedited option, and contacting support will not move you up the queue. The only real lever you have is picking an earlier test date, which is why working backwards from your school deadlines matters so much.
What if your results are late for a school deadline?+
Contact the program directly, not Acuity. Many schools have a stated policy on CASPer results arriving close to a deadline, and some will accept a score that lands shortly after as long as you sat the test in time. Ask before you assume the worst.
Do you get a number or just a quartile?+
You get a quartile from 1 to 4, showing which quarter of test takers you landed in. You do not get a raw score, a percentile, or a per-scenario breakdown. Schools receive the same quartile you see.
How will you know your CASPer results are ready?+
Acuity emails the address on your account when results are released, and the quartile appears when you log into takealtus.com. Check the email you registered with rather than the one you use day to day, since those are often different.