I think this only happens at universities where there's competitive funding. They can't guarantee full funding for 5 years, and so the department has to appeal to the wider university (to whom the GRE Q is supposedly a quick and easy indicator of the student's viability). My advisor was adamant that I not study. I scored in the 30th percentile, but I also promised myself I wouldn't consider schools without incredibly good/ guaranteed funding packages. I don't know if that helps. I certainly don't have experience in an admission committee like bfat, so I would definitely trust their advice over mine!