GRE score reports. Institution code and department code

[feliperosso]

I have been sending the GRE score reports to the Universities. In most of the universities websites they specify the institution code you should use, but say nothing about the department code. ETS lets you send the score reports without specifying the department code.

My question is, should I put the department code of the Physics department or should I leave it blank? Does it matter?
If anyone knows the answer to my question I would be very grateful.

[AlexisPrel]

Some departments do mention in their FAQ that if you send the score to the wrong dpt, they are still able to retrieve them, so I suppose the way it works is that the score ares send to some service in the university, to which the programs make request? Probably selecting physics will not cause you any trouble.

Are you sure you checked the FAQ for any instruction in this regard, though?

[feliperosso]

I checked the FAQ of most universities and most of them say "send us your GRE and Toefl results using xxxx institution code". The only university that I found that specifies a department code is UCLA.
I got this doubt after I had already send all my scores without specifying the department code. That's when I got a little nervous...

[muonneutrino]

While some FAQs are silent on the topic, I found several that say not to include department codes. Not sure what happens in those cases if you do, though.