How do I go about getting a GED?

December 4, 2006 5:54 PM

I need to get a GED; where do I start? I'm completely lost.

I live in Columbus, OH. I'm a minor & completing high school is currently a dead end for my personal situation. I'm unable to drive and my parent isn't very co-operative. I would appreciate solutions with minimal reliance on other people.. although I realize I don't have a lot of resources at my disposal. Any advice, personal experience or direction in preparing for and acquiring a GED could be helpful, thanks for you time.

posted by Niomi to Education (14 answers total)

This wouldn't be a bad place to start.
posted by deadmessenger at 5:57 PM on December 4, 2006

Your local Community College is a great place to start. There is probably a bus line that can get you there and they may have some financial aid available too! Good luck!
posted by Pollomacho at 6:28 PM on December 4, 2006

If you're 17 and able to hang on until you're 18 - don't bother with the GED. They're next to useless once you're an adult.

I don't know a thing about Ohio, but here's my personal experience:

I got my GED when I was 16 (well, it was a California specific kind, a CHSPE, but they're the same kind of thing). I didn't rely on anyone at all to do it, other than getting my mom to sign the age waiver. I registered for a test a few months away, bought a study book, studied in every spare moment, got myself to the test site and passed without issue. A friend of mine took the test at the same time, only he didn't study, and failed. So I suggest you get a book, even if you're dropping out because high school is so easy it's boring you to tears. Yeah, it's not a difficult test, but practice is good all the same.

I doubt that the GED test site would be far from public transit, so don't let not being able to drive hold you back. Hell, if things aren't working out for you where you are, don't let anything stop you. Feel free to email me if you want any encouragement.
posted by cmonkey at 6:43 PM on December 4, 2006

I took mine as an adult. It was a breeze. You write well and seem to have a decent brain so my bet is you have no problem with it. I personally felt it was the easiest test I could imagine next to all the ones I did take in my HS years. In my area, there were classes to help you prepare, and I believe you could retake sections you didn't pass. I would never recommend it, but I didn't study at all and I passed in something like the 99th percentile and I'm definately not the brightest guy on the block.

If it is difficult for you to find support, get there etc, ask at your (former?) highschool or a local community center, adult school or other such organization. Somebody there really wants you to have a better life and will go out of their way to help you out. If at first you don't find anyone, then keep looking and asking(other family maybe?). I didn't really learn to ask for help until I was older. The fact is, there are a lot of folks who want to do just that, especially when you're a kid having a rough time(YMMV, of course).

Furthermore, there are lots of study resources on the web for this sort of basic subject matter. Again, the test isn't terribly difficult, even if you don't test well. You can take it in sections and I believe not all on the same day(if OH is anything like CA).

I wish you the very best! While I find the diploma/GED thing isn't useful everywhere(outside of certain jobs and collegiate financial aid), it will make a world of difference in you knowing that you didn't just blow it off.

[on preview] cmonkey's got the right attitude, except if you want to go to college/uni and get federal financial aid. If you're unsure, you can always get the GED later on but before you apply for the school. In between now and then, you probably won't notice much difference unless you want to join the military(and I'm not even sure if you need it then), or other such gov jobs.
posted by a_green_man at 7:02 PM on December 4, 2006

I had a pretty simular experience to cmonkey above. I took the California equivilant to the GED. I also studied from the book I got for under 20 bucks. You could probably buy a study book online. NO one in my entire career history has every asked for 'proof' that I had a GED, and I could easily have lied on every job application and said that I had a diploma and no one would know.

A little side advice: I'm 32 and going to community college for the first time. I don't regret not going to college. I found a trade that made me an OK income (bookkeeping) and that I learned soley through experience. I also got to have a lot of awesome adventures and wasn't saddled with the huge student loans that my friends are living with.

But the last few years have felt really unfocused. Without going through the conventional highschool, college, career track, I needed a bit more self motivation that I had.

Anyhow, good luck!
posted by serazin at 7:07 PM on December 4, 2006

I took the GED in Texas just after I turned 17, and found it to be an incredibly easy test--all reading comprehension, plus one math section. Ohio's test may be considerably different; I think they've changed in the past few years. Before I took it, I had to take a summer GED prep course, so was able to gauge my readiness (& thus felt pretty confident). I spent a year at community college afterwards, earned good grades, and transferred to a big state school (Univ. of Pittsburgh). Regarding what cmonkey says about GEDs being next to useless, it depends on what you want. Are you planning on going to college? If you're not, a high school diploma will probably look much better on job applications. If you are, and if there's any possibility of your getting merit-based financial aid in college, stick it out in high school if you won't be sacrificing your mental stability to do so. That said, if money for college won't be a problem, by all means take the GED and get the hell out of dodge.

I'm tempted to ask 1) why's your parent being unhelpful? and 2) what's your plan once you have your GED?
posted by soviet sleepover at 7:14 PM on December 4, 2006

The local public library is a great resource for this kind of thing. If you go to the help desk and explain that you want to take the GED and are looking for books that will help you prepare as well as information on where to take it in your community, you should be taken care of.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 7:46 PM on December 4, 2006

One of the resources you have at your disposal is an educational system that will help you through this process. Believe it or not, the state department of education and the community colleges are full of people that want to help you succeed. From deadmessenger's link, here are testing centers that will let you take practice tests. If you score well on these practice tests, you will earn a waiver to take the GED exam for free.

Use these practice tests as diagnostics to help you know what you will be asked on the GED exam. Take them seriously, but don't be intimidated because you will most likely pass with flying colors.

And finally, just get it over with. It will be some help in getting you out of a situation that sounds very uncomfortable. Good luck to you.
posted by peeedro at 7:55 PM on December 4, 2006

Just an anecdote: my now-wife was in pretty much the same situation as you find yourself--dead-end high school, unsupportive parent. She dropped out, got her GED, went to community college, then state university, then to a private university (on scholarship) for a master's degree, all by the time she was 26. She now has her framed GED certificate on the wall next to her master's from George Washington University; I don't know which she's more proud of. It can work out.
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:59 AM on December 5, 2006

I dropped out when I was 17 and just started working. My resume (by the time I needed one) just listed the years I attended high school (which was 4 years) and noone ever asked to see my diploma. I took the GED a year or so later, just to get it out of the way, and found it pretty easy as some others have stated.

It took a few shitty jobs, but I'm pretty comfortable with where I am at this point in my life, and I'm finally going to college (on the company dime, natch).

FWIW, as a high school dropout in a corporate environment, I was surprised to find that many of these college grads couldn't string together a sentence to save their lives.

Best of luck to you.
posted by kableh at 7:38 AM on December 5, 2006

Sorry to follow up so soon...

To answer your actual question, I took mine at the local community college.

If you're 17 and able to hang on until you're 18 - don't bother with the GED. They're next to useless once you're an adult.

I'll just add that you need to have that out of the way to attend college, so there is some utility.
posted by kableh at 7:41 AM on December 5, 2006

If you're 17 and able to hang on until you're 18 - don't bother with the GED. They're next to useless once you're an adult.

Indeed, I dropped out of high-school when I was 17, (11 years ago) and never got a GED. I've never regretted it.

I'll just add that you need to have that out of the way to attend college, so there is some utility.

Not quite true. You will need to take the GED before you *graduate* college. You can take classes at a college all you want, but you can't get financial aid or be enrolled in a degree program. Almost any college is more than happy to take your money and let you attend classes. These classes might also count towards a degree, if you ever decide to get a GED and degree.
posted by darkness at 10:20 AM on December 5, 2006

Hi. MrMoonPie's wife here.

If you are turning 18 in less than 4 months, I would recommend waiting until then to get your GED. I say this because you will no longer need parental consent, only the GED Age Waiver Form signed by the Superintendent of your school district. Given the amount of time the application and testing process will most likely take, parental consent might become a moot point if you wait a little while.

I was just shy of 17 when I decided to drop out and take the GED. In order to receive an age waiver, I was required to petition my school district rep. as well as the GED testing officials for my state. In my petition, I clearly described why I wanted to leave my high school (on campus shootings, environment in which the threats of physical violence were the norm, and general apathy regarding education and intellectual achievement) and what I planned to do once I received the GED (continue my education by enrolling in community college and continue on to state university). I would highly recommend you do the same. You are going to have to convince them that you are not only smart enough to make this decision, but mature enough as well.

I'd also recommend checking out a GED study book from the library. If you're an A or B student and have at least a functional understanding of algebra and geometry, you probably won't need to study that much. But I found it helped to familiarize myself with the format/style of the questions on the GED exam rather than just walking in blind.

Good luck! It's not the best route for everyone, but with determination, persistence and patience it can work!

(P.S. I am equally proud of my GED certificate and masters degree diploma.)
posted by eviltiff at 7:02 PM on December 5, 2006

I'll just add that you need to have that out of the way to attend college, so there is some utility.

Not everywhere. I don't know how it works in Ohio (the original poster's home), but in New York, not only do you not need a GED to attend community college, but accumulating 24 college semester hours will result in the automatic (no test required!) conferral of a GED.
posted by deadmessenger at 11:44 AM on December 6, 2006