GED

[chris_arnet]

What do yall think about a GED? will it hinder my possible career as a photographer? i just really dont have the time to do high school, and really want to get on with my life. Can i Get into Community Colleges With a GED? any help appreciated.


btw, my long term plan is a year of community college, then transfe into a real college and major in arts/photography. or photojournalism.

 

[Corry]

I think your chances will be much better if you finish high school and get your diploma.

 

[chris_arnet]

I think your chances will be much better if you finish high school and get your diploma.

right, but my grades suck. and if you have a college diploma, do colleges look to see what high school education you have?

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Get your butt in gear and finish high school. Trust me.

 

[Corry]

right, but my grades suck. and if you have a college diploma, do colleges look to see what high school education you have?

Then get to work and bring up your grades.

A GED is supposed to be a high school equivalency, but often, it's not viewed that way.

If you quit high school, you will be making things HARDER, not easier, on yourself.

Just buck up and do the work, and soon you will be in college....and let me tell you, college is an amazing place to be.

 

[Sideburns]

finish high school. GED is nice if you're OLD...but when you're young they see you as lazy.

Just finish the school, work harder if you need to.

College is so much different, I'm sure you'll be able to do it.

Plus, getting into community college isn't that hard even with bad grades. As long as you can maintain a 60 you should be able to get in....depends on the program...most you'd need is a 70...and that's NOT hard to get. You can always take easier classes.

 

[wildmaven]

Getting a GED seems like the quick way to getting on with your life, but high school teaches you so much more than book learning. It teaches you discipline, how to deal with others, how to meet deadlines, and more. Without those skills, you will be at the back of the pack in college. You will also find yourself having to explain WHY you got a GED instead of finishing high school. No matter how wrong it sounds, there is a stigma attached to a GED, especially for younger individuals. And...do you meet the qualifications?

Minimum Age For Testing: 18 with no qualifications; however, in order to register and be tested at 16 or 17, registrants must provide a letter from their last school of attendance attesting that they have officially withdrawn from school. "Adjudicated youth" may be tested on the order of the court, even if they are still enrolled in school.

Individuals must complete the five-test battery within one year from the date of taking their first test. Examinees who complete the five-test battery within the one-year, but still have not passed, will be allowed two (2) more years to successfully complete the battery. If an examinee does not successfully complete the battery during the next two years, all scores and fees become invalid and the examinee must start the process over.

These requirements can vary by State.

Testing:

Language Arts, Writing


Part I

The Language Arts, Writing testing portion is divided into two parts. Part I covers sentence structure, organization, usage, and mechanics. Test takers read text from business, informational, and “how to” publications and then correct, revise, or improve the text according to Edited American English standards (or equivalent standards in Spanish and French versions). Test takers have 75 minutes to complete the 50 items in Part I.

Part II

Part II of the Language Arts, Writing test requires the student to write an essay on an assigned topic. Students have 45 minutes to complete the essay. Persons who finish Part I early may apply the remaining time to their essay. A passing essay must have well-focused main points; clear organization; specific development of ideas; and demonstrate the writer’s control of sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, word choice, and spelling. There is no minimum word count. The essay should be long enough to develop the topic adequately. Assigned topics are ones that do not require special knowledge. Examples include the influence of violent music on teenagers or the advantages and disadvantages of living without children.

Social Studies

The GED Social Studies Test (Social Studies) covers American history, world history, civics and government, economics, and geography. Test takers have 70 minutes to answer 50 questions.
In the Social Studies test, test takers read short passages and answer multiple-choice questions. Some passages come from documents like the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Many questions use graphs, charts, and other images, such as editorial cartoons, along with or instead of written passages.
Questions involving civics and government and economics rely heavily on practical documents, such as tax forms, voter registration forms, and workplace and personal budgets. Topics such as global warming and environmental law are also covered.

Science

The GED Science Test covers life science, earth and space science, and physical science. It measures the candidate’s skill in understanding, interpreting, and applying science concepts to visual and written text from academic and workplace contexts. The test focuses on what a scientifically literate person must know, understand, and be able to do. Questions address the National Science Education Content Standards and focus on environmental and health topics (recycling, heredity, and pollution, for example) and science’s relevance to everyday life. Students can expect to see visual text such as tables, graphs, charts, or diagrams as well as written text of varying length.
Most questions on the Science test involve a graphic such as a map, graph, chart, or diagram. Subjects covered include photosynthesis, weather and climate, geology, magnetism, energy, and cell division. The Science Test allows the test taker 80 minutes to answer 50 multiple-choice questions.

Language Arts, Reading

The GED Language Arts, Reading Test examines a test taker’s ability to read and understand texts similar to those encountered in high school English classrooms. The test has five fiction and two nonfiction passages, each is about 300-400 words long. The fiction passages include portions of a play, a poem, and three pieces of prose. The nonfiction passages may come from letters, biographies, newspaper and magazine articles, or “practical” texts such as manuals and forms. Each passage is followed by questions that assess reading comprehension, as well as the test taker’s ability to analyze the text, apply the information given to other situations, and synthesize new ideas from those provided.
Questions do not require a test taker to be familiar with the larger piece of literature from which the excerpt is taken, the author’s other works, literary history, or discipline-specific terms and conventions. Candidates have 65 minutes to answer 40 questions.

Mathematics

The GED Mathematics Test has two equally weighted halves. Part I allows candidates to use a calculator. Part II does not permit the use of a calculator. The test taker must use the calculator issued at the testing center; no other calculator may be used.
Test takers have 90 minutes to answer 50 questions; 40 are multiple-choice. The remaining 10 use an alternate format. The alternate format requires the test taker to record answers on either a numerical or coordinate plane grid. Both portions of the test have alternate format questions. The test booklet offers a page of common formulas as well as directions for completing the alternate-format items, and using the calculator.
The Mathematics test focuses on four main mathematical disciplines:

• Number Operations and Number Sense
• Measurement and Geometry
• Data analysis, probablility, and statistics
• Algebra, functions, and patterns

Are you prepared for that?

 

[chris_arnet]

i really wanna get on with my life now. i live in flower mound texas. i have shot everywhere there is a halfway decent photo. i cant take another second of this town. in what ways are a ged looked down upon?

 

[EBphotography]

GED's are frowned upon because it means you didn't finish high school, and not finishing high school is frowned upon. Thats the way it is. Suck it up, and get to work. You're in high school, it's almost over. You're way too young to be closing doors for yourself, and trust me, that's all you're doing. You should finish high school, work hard at it, and create meaningful opportunities for yourself, instead of blocking them off because you didn't feel like finishing high school.

 

[Doug]

This is a decision that you are going to have to make on your own. They always say hindsight is 2020. Are you going to look back 10 years from now and say to yourself I should have stayed in school?

If you drop out of school, you will be considered a drop out until you get your GED. And then you still may be looked down upon even with the GED.

When applying for a job you will be asked what high school you graduated from or circle that last grade you completed. The more education you have the better the chances of getting the job.

Are you a self motivated person? If you do drop out will you get the GED or will you put it off and let 5, 10 or 15 years go by then say it's too hard to go back and get it?

You asked in what ways are you looked down upon if you have a GED? Let me put it this way. Two people who are equally talented apply for the same job; one has a GED and the other a diploma. The one with the diploma is more likely to get the job or start out with a higher salary.

It's your decision.

 

[chris_arnet]

This is a decision that you are going to have to make on your own. They always say hindsight is 2020. Are you going to look back 10 years from now and say to yourself I should have stayed in school?

If you drop out of school, you will be considered a drop out until you get your GED. And then you still may be looked down upon even with the GED.

When applying for a job you will be asked what high school you graduated from or circle that last grade you completed. The more education you have the better the chances of getting the job.

Are you a self motivated person? If you do drop out will you get the GED or will you put it off and let 5, 10 or 15 years go by then say it's too hard to go back and get it?

You asked in what ways are you looked down upon if you have a GED? Let me put it this way. Two people who are equally talented apply for the same job; one has a GED and the other a diploma. The one with the diploma is more likely to get the job or start out with a higher salary.

It's your decision.

actually, i was going to get it before i quit school.

 

[wildmaven]

actually, i was going to get it before i quit school.

Actually, legally, you cannot take the GED while still enrolled in high school.

 

[chris_arnet]

Actually, legally, you cannot take the GED while still enrolled in high school.

are you sure? my acedemics counsler told me it was fine.

 

[Icon72]

Your academics counselor needs to find a new line of work. Don't be a fool, stay in school.

Ultimately it's up to you but just by reading through this thread you don't see one person encouraging you to quit and get a GED. Doesn't that tell you something? The majority of the world will look unfavorably on a GED vs a diploma. It's high school, just buckle down and get through it. You WILL look back and regret it if you quit. I'm just curious, if high school seems so tough what makes you think you'll be able to get through community college? I graduated from high school and now I'm 34 and desperately wished I would have tried harder in school. It sucks living with regrets, any regrets.

 

[Mitica100]

Stay in school gets my vote as well.