<p>when a school says that they recommend subject tests are they pretty much saying if you dont take em its going to hurt ur chances?</p>
<p>like northwestern doesnt require any but recommends 3</p>
<p>Hi,
I was wondering the exact same question. Hopefully some long-time CC'ers will be able to help us answer it.</p>
<p>^^I thought Northwestern only "recommended" 3 for specific students who are trying to get into a special program. I'm sure for your average applicant you should have only two. But I'm not 100% sure. Any one want to pitch in on this? </p>
<p>But to answer your question, since competition today is so fierce, it's safe to say that recommended=required. I think the only reason schools like Stanford for instance limit the subject tests to recommended status is because it doesn't want special case students who for some reason or another couldn't take the subject tests, to be kept out of the loop, like they would have at Harvard or Princeton (which require 3 no matter what). Your average, every day applicant should definitely view the words recommended as saying required, though.</p>
<p>I personally think that the more reputable your high school is, the less it is "required". SAT subject tests are most important when an applicant comes from an unknown highschool/homeschool to establish some way of judging the student's competence.</p>