College applications: Where does "recommended" end and "required" begin?

<p>What about engineering recommendations? For example, Princeton says that it is recommended for engineering applicants to take Chem or Physics SAT for their second SAT. I took Bio, Lit, and Math 2. It would be pretty inconvenient/difficult for me to take SATs next year (studying abroad), and I probably wouldn’t have access to all the prep books I’d like to have (bringing one review book would be fine, but couldn’t bring the giant CollegeBoard SAT Subject test books)</p>