SAT subject tests are NOT truly optional for middle/upper middle class applicants at elite colleges!

It might be helpful to students if we qualify what “elite” means. Are we talking, for example, top 25 of USWR rankings for both universities and liberal arts colleges? Top 10? Top 50? Where does one draw the line? For someone with limited (but available, if necessary) funds applying to schools in that 25-50 rank bracket, can they safely skip the subject tests?