<p>I'll be brief here. Can sending good subject GRE scores be harmful, when the program states that subject test is "not required"? Or, if my subject GRE scores are better than my grades on the same subject, should I always send the scores?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Edit:
The subject in question is somewhat relevant to the field.</p>
<p>send it- it would show a sense of academic ability. You should only not send them when your scores are bad.</p>
<p>Thanks, that what I was thinking myself. I was just wondering if that would be classified as a case of illiteracy.</p>
<p>Even though subject test might not be required it is usually recommended. If its close to your field of interest its a good marker for your academic ability- just curious, what field is this and what test did u take? Just to make sure</p>
<p>The subject I wish to study is neuroscience, the subject test I will be taking is physics.</p>
<p>Hmm. What subfield of neuroscience?</p>
<p>Theoretical/computational.</p>
<p>I’d say that was relevant and I’d send it.</p>
<p>Ok, another question related to this. Obviously, a score of 200 should not be sent anywhere where subject test is not strictly required, and a score of 990 should be sent to everywhere. However, what I’m unsure about is where is the turning point. </p>
<p>Of course, it depends on the quality of the applicant pool, but is there some general “formula”? Eg. anything less than 50%ile should be not sent unless required, anything over 75% should always? So, the concern mainly is the question “What will be used as the default value, if no subject score is provided?”. I’m not saying the admission committee uses a formula, but naturally some kind of assumption is made, if data does not exist. Most probably it will be somehow related to GPA, which further complicates this, as my GPA is not on either a percentage or 4.0 scale (so the “default” used might be quite bad).</p>
<p>I believe my post has not so far been extremely clear, so I’ll try to summarize: Reporting what subject gre percentiles would benefit me, specifically concerning programs in top ~30. Is 65% good enough? 75%?</p>
<p>You might be better off contacting the programs you’re interested in and asking how much weight a good subject GRE score will hold. Some programs don’t even care about your subject score, good or bad (ie U of Maryland SOM Molecular Medicine)… Nonetheless, I think it’s safe to say 80% or above is a great score, and anything below 50% I wouldn’t submit.</p>
<p>I would also think that if the program’s website states the exam is not required but recommended, it would be to your benefit to submit good scores (but don’t submit bad scores). If the program’s site does not make ANY mention of the subject GRE, then it must not be a substantial factor in admissions to their program.</p>
<p>But the problem is precisely that I have little idea what’s good and what’s not, apart from the 50 and 80 (and my practice scores fall between the two).</p>
<p>Edit:
I want to clarify that I’m from Europe with the hope that that’s an acceptable excuse for being clueless here…</p>
<p>I have heard from faculty that there are very few situations in which sending an optional subject GRE test score to programs can be helpful. If you got poor grades or there is some reason to doubt your preparation (attending unheard of undergrad institution) or have been out of the discipline for some time, it might be helpful. However unless one of those situations applies to you, you are just risking sending bad scores when you don’t need to.</p>
<p>The grading philosophy here is quite different, with about 5%-10% of students getting the best grade and the rest grades being on the curve also. My grades are not anything great (GPA is something like 60th percentile) even when compared to my classmates, and definitely will look quite bad if one is not familiar with the system and tries any kind of linear scaling.</p>
<p>And my UG institute is not well-known outside the country, if not completely unheard of.</p>
<p>I would send only if the scores were above 75%. You’ll have to pay more since you won’t avail yourself of the free reports requested at test time; however, you don’t want to send bad scores to one of your top choices if it’s not required. Especially since you are taking the physics exam, and not biology, this test should be seen as optional.</p>
<p>Thank you for a clear figure of what’s considered “good”. There is much variability about subject GRE requirements of different programs. Some “strongly encourage” it, which I understand as being in practice a requirement. I have ordered the free reports to be sent to the schools that do so, and will send my score to the rest of them unless it’s truly awful (in which case I might not even apply to them). Some “recommend”, it, and I will decide about sending after getting the score myself. Some have it as an “option”, and some don’t mention it at all, in which case I will also decide about sending the report later, but will only do so if the score is good.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice so far! Although I trust the 75% limit of being considered good Momwaitingfornew gave is accurate, I still highly welcome both confirming and contradicting opinions of others.</p>