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Q: What’s the deal with ‘Score Choice’? Can I really not submit some of my SAT scores? What about colleges that say they will not “honor” this policy?A: If you are totally confused about this “new” policy, join the club. High school juniors in the middle of test-taking season report that they are puzzled by the seeming contradictions of Score Choice. Is Score Choice good for students or not?The answer is: good, sort of. Read on.College Board -- the company that brings you the SAT, SAT Subject Tests, and other standardized national exams -- states: “Designed to reduce student stress and improve the test-day experience, Score Choice is a new score-reporting feature that gives students the option to choose the SAT scores by test date and SAT subject tests by individual test that they send to colleges, in accordance with each individual’s score-use practice.”Score Choice is an “option,” and a student must select this option, otherwise the scores will be listed on their score-reporting form. This is explained in the small print on collegeboard.com and in their printed literature. When students register online to take the tests, they will see this explanation -- but it is easily overlooked. Students who take the SAT multiple times must mark the Score Choice option every time. If a students does not mark the Score Choice option, "the College Board will send all of your scores to the recipient institutions.” Score Choice™ is not really new. The College Board is so proud of this mechanism that they have trademarked it. From 1993 to 2002 test-takers could choose the scores they wanted sent. They could take the tests multiple times and the colleges would never know. In 2002 the College Board changed this policy, saying that all scores, listed on one summary form, would be sent to colleges. As a result, students stopped taking the test so often and the College Board saw a drop in test-fee revenues. The College Board’s stated rationale for bringing Score Choice back was that some students missed college application deadlines because they had forgotten they asked for scores to be held back. Knowing that no one will see the result of a test that doesn’t represent your best effort does reduce stress. But the real motivation behind Score Choice is to get students to take the test over and over again, at a fee. And while the College Board does offer fee waivers to low-income students they offer only four waivers per student. An affluent student can still take the test four, five, or six times (and pay for private coaching).The ACT – the College Board’s chief competitor – has, in effect, always offered Score Choice. You can have your ACT scores sent or not. More students on the East Coast have been taking the ACT.Several colleges – including Stanford and Penn – have said they want to see ALL of a student's test scores. The College Board affirms that there is no way these colleges can see scores that students choose to hide, or the number of times a student took the SAT. You see how complicated this is? That’s why I said Score Choice is “good, sort of.”The result has been more stress and strategizing for students. Should I take the test this time or not? Should I report the score or not? How many times can I take the test before I actually have to apply to college?Stop! Please remember that standardized test scores are not the #1 factor in college admission. I suggest that students take the SAT twice. The first time should be near the end of the junior year, no earlier than March. You want to practice? Take practice tests in the books and time yourself. Take the test again, if you are not happy with the score, the first time it’s offered at the beginning of senior year. The colleges will choose the highest components within your two SATs and will combine them. You might also take the ACT once for a comparison.The truth is that the transcript – a record of courses and grades over a sustained period of time - is much more significant than a test. Studying regular school subjects and reading independently will make truly strong college candidates.