Q: My daughter keeps getting letters that say she needs to commit to schools ASAP The problem is she is still waiting to hear from other places, so she doesn’t know where she wants to go yet for sure. How should we respond?

A: Most colleges abide by the National Candidates’ Reply Date of May 1 of the senior year. This means colleges will hold an admitted student’s spot until then, regardless of when the admissions offer was made. So, for instance, if your daughter was admitted to the University of Central Florida on Sept. 9, 2008, UCF will hold her spot until May 1, 2009. At that time, students must commit to one institution and notify the other schools they were admitted to that they do not intend to enroll.

Unfortunately, some colleges use wording that makes it seem like a closer deadline is looming in hopes that it will push a student to make a decision quicker (possibly before the student hears from other colleges). It is true that some universities’ housing systems are set up on a first-come, first-served basis, which puts added pressure on some students to make a decision sooner than they really should. Call the Admissions Office and confirm the actual deadline before making any decisions that may feel rushed.

Q: Can you please explain this new Score Choice option for the SATs?

A: Score Choice was announced in June 2008 and goes into effect in March 2009. This enables students to take the SAT multiple times and/or to take Subject Tests and to selectively choose which scores get sent to colleges. You must send all section scores from a particular SAT test date. This means that you can’t send just your Critical Reading score from the October test, for instance; rather, you must send all three section scores from a given test date. With Subject Tests, you can take up to three on one day and then ultimately choose to send only one or two of those tests.