<p>I have taken the ACT two times and made a 31 the first time and a 33 (131 composite) second time. My friends tell me that for the 'real' scholarships I need at least a 133 composite score. If I am not able to improve my 131 what scholarships am I going to be eligible for versus the ones I would be eligible for with a 133? I am an Oklahoma resident and am mainly looking at OU. Any help at all would be appreciated, thanks!
PS: Its my first post so if I did anything wrong just let me know</p>
<p>ACT composite scores are always expressed in terms of an average, not a sum; colleges will not discriminate between a 131 and 133 (or any other subscore total, for that matter) within one particular composite score (in this case, 33).</p>
<p>Actually there are scholarships that take into account the sum of the subscores. It sounds like the OP is talking about the OSRHE academic scholars award in Oklahoma. To get the automatic OSRHE you currently need a total subscore of 133,not just a 33 composite. The OSRHE for an Oklahoma resident at OU or OSU is a full tuition waiver from the school plus a $5500 a year cash scholarship from the OSRHE. It is also available at other Oklahoma schools (private and public) with variations in the award amounts. </p>
<p>With a 32 ACT, or a 33 where the composite does not total 133, you will be *eligible *for the OSRHE institutional nominee award. This is also a full tuition waiver but the annual cash scholarship is $2800 instead of $5500. The institutional nominee award is not an automatic scholarship and each school is allowed to nominate a limited number of students (I think OSU is allowed 80 so OU is probably about the same). My daughter has the institutional nominee award at OSU - it is great, though the extra $2700 would have been nice of course. Once she started college she really wished she had done a little extra prep and got those few extra points.</p>
<p>As the institutional nominee award is not a guarantee it is worth retaking the ACT to see if you can get the extra couple of points and be guaranteed the automatic award. My daughter had a friend who qualified as an institutional nominee but did not get it and was very disappointed. The next best ACT based scholarship at OSU was several thousand dollars less that the Academic scholars award (I think my daughter is $5-6,000+ dollars a year better off with the award than she would have been with the award she would have got if she had not been an OSRHE institutional nominee). Oh and the scores must be from one test date. No superscoring.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks that was very helpful. How do i know if my 131 qualifies me for the instutional nominee? Do I have to apply to the college first?</p>
<p>Each Oklahoma school set their own criteria for the institutional nominee award. Back in 2007 for OSU it was a 32 ACT plus a certain GPA (I think it was 3.75 2 years ago when we were in this process). I seem to recall it was the same for OU, but you would have to go to their web site and do a search for OSRHE institutional nominee to find out for sure. The regional schools may have lower ACT requirements (one of my daughter’s friends got it with, I think, a 30 or a 31 at a smaller regional university).</p>
<p>The thing to remember is that even if you qualify for the institutional nominee it does not mean you will get it. They have a limited number of awards and they say they have more eligible students than nominee spots available. As I said, a friend of my daughter met all the criteria for the institutional nominee award at OSU but did not get offered it. I am not sure how they decide who out of those that meet the criteria will get it.</p>
<p>The 133 (assuming it does not change) guarantees you the full OSRHE scholar award. Qualifying for the nominee award at a particular Oklahoma school makes you eligible but foes not guarantee it.</p>