As the title says, I’m wondering how important subject tests are for applications. I’m aiming for T20/30 schools, and I just got my physics score back (740). I don’t know what to do because I think this is on the lower side of physics scores, and I can’t retake again unless I RD. However, I’m only taking AP physics this year.
What should I do? Should I still send to my #1 ED school (CMU), or RD and retake?
If the school requires or recommends you should send the scores unless they are really bad. I would imagine it could matter what the intended major is. 740 in Physics might be great for an English major but not for a Physics major. My D decided not to apply to schools that require them. All this testing in out of hand IMO.
@Techno13
I’m applying as a computer science major.
I just went through all my schools and I found that only one requires it, one is recommended, and the rest are optional. Would it hurt my application to include it for the optional ones?
If you are middle class and up, consider the subject test to be required, not recommended, even if the colleges wrote that it’s optional. The reason that many colleges made the subject test “recommended” is because of the financial burden on low SES kids.
For CS at CMU they recommend two subject tests (math 2 and physics, chem, or bio)…so send your physics score. Do you have a math 2 score as well? https://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/standardized-test-requirements
What school are you applying to that requires SAT subject tests?
@MWolf and @Mwfan1921
I have an 800 on Math 2. The college that requires it is CMU because of the financial hardship stuff. I sent my score to them, but their website said all scores must be sent, so I also sent a <700 score. Now that I’ve done a bunch of research, I don’t think I should have done that 
How badly would this affect my chance of admission?
I do read it that CMU does not require all subject tests…but they have them all now.
I don’t know the strength of all the components of your app, but assume the <700 subject test doesn’t strengthen it ?..whether such a small piece of the holistic puzzle harms your app we don’t really know, but you can’t do anything about it now, so don’t fret. It is just a small piece of the puzzle.
CMU is a reach for everyone, so hopefully you have target schools and at least one affordable safety on your list.
Good luck.
I would say this is true of “recommended” (as you do in the next sentence), not “optional”