With all the uncertainty students face around college admissions, it would be wonderful if there was a simple yes or no answer to every question. Unfortunately, there are some areas where the answers aren’t black or white. And the score choice option – for both the SATs and ACTs – is one of those extremely gray areas.

Since March 2009, the College Board has given students the choice of whether or not they want the scores from a particular test date to be reported to colleges. According to their website, this step was undertaken to reduce test-day stress on students, allowing them to put their best foot forward by giving them the option of not releasing their scores.

Since then, some elite colleges and universities have rejected this policy and are still requiring students to report scores from all sittings; the College Board’s own website admits that “colleges continue to set their own score use practices, which may vary from college to college.”

The ACT has always had a score choice policy, but apparently some selective colleges are now ignoring that as well, and will look at all the ACT scores a student obtains. This disregard of SAT and ACT score choice policy is not widespread right now, but it is possible that other colleges may follow suit. For now, there is a great deal of uncertainty, creating confusion and stress for college applicants, their families and high school guidance counselors.

Although there are, unfortunately, no black or white answers, the most logical advice is not to take any standardized tests as a lark, just to “see how you’ll do.” The SAT and ACT tests should be diligently prepared for, and despite score choice policies currently in place, it’s wise to assume there’s a chance that the college of your choice will choose to see your test scores.