The GED is honestly not that hard to pass despite your age group. Anyone who is at least 16 years old and older can take the test. There is no age limit. I recently found out a friend of mine didn’t have a GED! I had no idea. He’s so smart and has a good career but he got this through work experience and not education. He asked me to help him prepare for the TABE test he has to take before he can take the GED. All GED testing centers usually require this. It covers only math, reading and writing. But the total GED test consist of Math (basic, operations, decimals, fractions, word problems, algebra and geometry), Science, Social Studies, Language (writing), Reading Comprehension and writing one essay of at least 250 words long. The entire GED test takes about eight hours. The TABE test is much shorter making it about 45 minutes long, possibly shorter.
The TABE is designed to see how much you know already and then helps you determine the areas you will need help in. Most GED testing centers will offer you free classes to help you in your weak areas. The only money you will pay to get your GED is the $95 (that’s how much it is in Ga) it cost to pay for the entire test. The TABE test is free and so all are the classes you might be offered to help you prepare.
My best advice would be to buy a good GED Preparation book before hand so that you can start learning all the stuff you forgot in High School or didn’t learn at all, such as the book Barron’s GED. Once you get through one of these books, its pretty much guaranteed that you will pass the GED test. Its all about self determination. Most of the questions on the GED don’t require you to know any specific facts about history or science. Usually you are told to read a paragraph and then must answer questions in a multiple choice format. Reading comprehension and mathematics are the two areas you need to focus on more than the others. Of course, if you are already good at math, lucky for you, then you need to work on all the other areas of the test. But overall, study each area the same amount of time and then more on the ones you need help on. The Science and Social studies portion of the test will mostly be multiple choice. The math section is divided into two parts. Part 1 allows you to use a calculator and Part 2, although no harder than part 1, requires that you put the calculator away and use pencil and paper to solve the problems. Studying before you even call about your GED is highly suggested.
It really is entirely up to you to decide if you want to put in the learning hours required to pass the GED (at least an hour a day or of course sit down and write up your own schedule that works for you). You will find it easier than you think. You can start practicing on a daily basis months, or weeks, before you call your local GED testing center and then get started on taking the TABE. If you start studying on your own earlier you will be that much more ahead and prepared than most people are who just show up not knowing anything about the test or what will be on it. If you decided to do that then its fair to think that you won’t do very well on the TABE test (unless of course, you’re really smart or recently out of high school of at least 12th grade and didn’t graduate) and will be required to take quite a few classes before getting your GED, which obviously prolongs the entire process. If you need the classes for help then take them though. It will be the only way, unless you do it yourself (some centers don’t allow this and require you to take the classes there or at a more convenient approved location) to even be able to take the GED.
No matter what age you are, you can pass the GED. Once you get your GED you can apply to a community college (maybe even he same one that you might have gone to while taking your GED classes) and take a certificate program (or higher but it will take longer to get a diploma or associates degree), usually pretty cheap, and keep going until you reach 60 hours of college credit. Once you do that you can transfer to just about any college you’d like whether it’s a four year college or another technical one. No matter what you decide to do, at the end of it all you will at least have your GED and that in itself is a major accomplishment.
If you should be allowed to take the GED and fail, its not the end of the world. You will usually have to take additional classes and then take just the parts of the GED you didn’t pass the first time around. The GED center will be more than helpful in letting you know where you went wrong and how you can pass those parts by studying simply a little harder. You don’t have to retake the entire the GED test if you fail on only some parts of it. If you don’t pass on your first try, don’t give up. Study more on the areas you need strength in and then keep going until you pass the GED test.
To learn more about taking the GED use Google to look up the local GED testing centers in your own location. Each one might be a little different. Don’t be afraid to call and ask all the questions you want. The book my friend used was called Barron’s GED. It came with a CD-ROM that allowed you to take a practice diagnostic test for each area to help you see what areas you need strength in. Don’t be afraid of getting your GED even if you’ve been out of school for 20 or more years. You’ll feel so good about yourself knowing that you finally took the right steps towards bettering your career and educational future.
After getting your GED, many other options open up to you that were not available before. Better pay, more professional looking resumes, the chance to continue your education. The list goes on and on. Good luck on your studies and I hope you pass the GED the first time around.
