[jQuery] [jQuery]Select Boxes - Pulling the currently selected string instead of value

How do I retrieve the currently selected option string in a select box
instead of the value?
<select id="choices">
<option value="value">String</option>
</select>

Using
$("#choices").val();
returns the value if it's set. if there is no value set, jQuery
returns the string instead. I want to retrieve the string while a
value is set!

Thanks for you time, I'm sure this something that I simply overlooked.