She never went to school in the States..

February 9, 2012 12:36 PM

Can someone who didn't study in the US get their GED here?

My mom, born in Mexico, has lived in the US for ~30 years and became a US citizen a few years ago. Now that my brother and I have flown the coop (coup -sp?) I want to convince her to get her GED now that she has some spare time and is looking for a new job.

So my big question is, can she, a middle school drop out (secundaria, she never went to la preparatoria) get her GED here in the States? I'm not worried about her capability to learn/pick things up, I'm concerned about paperwork, will they ask for high school enrollment things or anything of the sort?

Anyone ever done this? Let me know of your own personal experiences! Any setbacks that anyone knows about this situation?

Thanks in advance!

posted by xicana63 to Education (6 answers total)

Your profile says you're in Indiana, so here's that state's GED fact sheet. The only requirements seem to be that she has to be over 18 and not holding a high school diploma.
posted by griphus at 12:42 PM on February 9, 2012

Best answer: I don't think it matters at all where she went to school or how far she got. One of my sons took it and they did not care about any of that. there are free classes in a lot of places, she should call her local community college or other adult education center. In some communities the local school district does adult education. when she finds a program they will probably have her take a practice test to see what her strengths and weaknesses are.
posted by mareli at 12:44 PM on February 9, 2012

(Also, "coop" is the right one. )
posted by griphus at 12:45 PM on February 9, 2012

There should be no reason your mother can't get her GED. I don't think it will be as complicated as you fear. The GED was created, in part, for people who don't have the normal schooling experience. I got my GED and the process was pretty easy.

(I was born in the US, but since your mother is a citizen I don't think it will be much different.)

The first thing that you should do is locate the GED website for your mother's state and read up on the requirements . For example, the Missouri page looks like this:

http://dese.mo.gov/divcareered/ged_index.htm

It tells you about the GED, the paperwork requirements for the GED, and even lets you apply online for the GED. The site is run by the Missouri Department of Education. They are interested in making this relatively easy for you!

(Note the .gov. If you google you'll get a lot of commercial websites so you have to pick the right one.)
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 12:46 PM on February 9, 2012

They probably want some sort of photo ID so people don't take tests for each other. If she doesn't have a drivers license, she can get a state ID (check your DMV to see what citizenship papers she needs to bring; they're pretty strict nowadays). Otherwise I can't imagine what the problem would be. The whole point of it is for people who didn't finish high school to get an equivalency diploma.
posted by desjardins at 12:50 PM on February 9, 2012

Best answer: Yes she will. I work for a high school that does GED education. As long as she has some official form of identification and is over 18 this should not be a problem.
posted by jessamyn at 1:56 PM on February 9, 2012