What does "recommended" GRE Subject Test actually mean?

[pterosaur]

A lot of the schools I am looking at list the GRE subject test as "recommended," which seems terrifyingly vague to me.  What does this actually mean?  I'm guessing it can vary a lot between schools.  What's the best way to find out how important the subject test is to particular program?  And is there any sort of guideline on a cutoff as to when it's good vs. bad to send a subject test score?

[Lisa44201]

It means it's not required. Honestly, the subject GRE (psychology for me) wasn't too bad. Not sure how you're going to find out how important it is; if you've got several schools that recommend it, I'd just go ahead and take it, and get it out of the way. I wouldn't send in a score if you're below the 80th percentile or so, but I'm neurotic when it comes to test scores.

[pterosaur]

I've heard psychology is one of the easier ones.  I'm going for neuroscience, so I will probably end up taking biology.  I should probably try a practice test and see how it goes.

[Monochrome Spring]

Recommended, depending on your field, can also mean "We will use this score to differentiate between you and similar candidates for fellowships, but we won't hold it against you if you didn't take it. You just don't get the bonus points of someone who did and got a good score."

 

Edit: Subject GRE can also demonstrate background knowledge in the field, which is especially important if you did poorly in undergrad or didn't take many courses on that topic.

 

You'll want to be wary of the biology subject test, too. 1/3 of the test will be on ecology/evolution, which you may not be as strong at as a non-major. The molecular/cellular and organismal sections will be your strong points.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Monochrome Spring

[MsDarjeeling]

Of the psychology programs I have reviewed that said "recommended" they explained that to mean not mandatory, as in "it is not something we will penalize you for and yes we happily admit students that didn't take it."  However when probing further I learned that for students that did not have an undergrad degree in psychology or for students who did and had really low gpa's then "recommended" means more like "strongly encouraged, because we're not sure you have necessary foundation knowledge."

 

I have my undergrad in psych with a good gpa and am earning a master's in psych with an even better gpa, so I've decided to skip the subject test.  I thought the cons (the cost, limited test dates, yet another thing to study for, and I don't actually need it) outweighed the pros for me.   

[GeoDUDE!]

Recommended means you should probably take it if you are going to kill it. It also means that they look VERY favorably on people who have done well. I wouldn't go so far as to say a 85% + scoring on a subject test automatically gets you into a department, but it would be hard pressed to deny someone with a score like that AND has a decent supplementary package of SOP LOR and GPA. Most top departments, depending on the field, take between 1-5 and 1-10 students who apply. Most of the people who apply have above a 3.3 GPA, but a high GRE like I just explained shows that you are better than 1-5 or 1-10 students that apply to programs in your field. 

 

The right question is not if people get into the program who have not taken the exam, but What % of the people do get in that have taken the exam.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

It's funny. I'm looking into 8 schools. Of them, some require GRE, some recommend, some strongly encourage, one doesn't require but will accept scores, and one says do not send scores.