Taking the SAT is going to be a big enough financial strain talk-less the Subject SAT but if I’ll be disadvantaged without it, I’ll write the exam.
Cornell told me they don’t require it: something along the lines of " The Subject SAT is not required, Your Olevel, Alevel and Sat along with your other application materials will be reviewed".
Is it not required but recommended? I’m an International student with huge need!
Should I take it?
Anyone?
If you’ve asked Cornell, and they gave you an answer, then nobody here is going to give you a better answer. If you can’t afford the Subject Tests, then forgo them, since fee waivers are not available to international students.
@skieurope
There’s no doubt that your advice is sound but Cornell isn’t the only school I’m applying to. I don’t even know what to do! Do you think schools can waive the Subject Sat and use my Alevels just Like Yale? None of the Subject Sat asides from Maths is really my strong-point. I’d probably get a 500-600 or thereabout in French.
You can certainly pose the question to the other colleges, as well. Yale does not require Subject Tests, although they are recommended. While most applicants should submit Subject Tests when recommended, the reason some colleges like Harvard, Yale, etc. went from required to recommended was to accommodate situations like yours. Again, if you can’t afford them, you can’t afford them. So make the rest of your application package as strong as possible.
It should go without saying that a 500-600 score will not help you for colleges of this tier.
Additionally, it should also go without saying that admissions to any of these colleges is difficult, and even more so for an international applicant. Good luck.