This here is a question for advice I'd like to give my nephew. He is one credit short of graduating and will have to take a summer course to graduate in August instead. He's already 18 so mom cant tell him what to do and he's seriously thinking of just taking the G.E.D. test (only one test for this?). Isn't it better to actually have a High School diploma rather than a GED? He plans on going to ACC after this so I dunno? Any advice I could give the young man would be greatly appreciated. thanks, esse (in S.A.)
I would think the diploma is alot better. His application to a college saying GED instead of diploma will be hindered, as will his application to jobs I would think.
take the course, get the diploma! no question. Someone in my family has a GED and it is no help whatsoever in getting jobs. He has to get jobs through "friends", or they won't even look at him. one course will be well worth it. Give him some encouragement.
I don't know why, but that Chris Rock bit just came to mind: "I always hear people talkin' bout 'I'm gonna get my G.E.D....I'm gonna get my G.E.D.' Well, ya know what G.E.D. stands for, dontcha? Good Enough Diploma. Then these same people tell ya that since they got their G.E.D. they gonna go to college. College? Hell, apparently high school was kickin' their ass."
Man that sucks one credit short of graduating? ahhh thats gotta suck, but anyways definitely have them take the class over the summer, the diploma will look a lot better. I just finshed my senior yr of high school yesterday! now I gotta get ready for 4 yrs of college.
the only reason you should ever take a g.e.d. over a diploma is if you want to graduate early. and then go to a university. i have had a few friends do that where they left school two years early for a ivy league school and stuff like that. otherwise there is really no point not to get it with one class shy. spend 12 years and stop right there. nah...
DIPLOMA. Technically ACC doesn't care whether you got your diploma or the GED... Employers will care - nobody wants anybody who settled for something equivalent.
I would definetly get the diploma. But at the same time, not once have I had a potential employer ask to see my high school diploma. How would they know whether you had it or not? Can this be verified during the background check process?
I'd go ahead and take the summer school class and get the regular diploma. Once he gets through college, it won't matter what kind of high school diploma he had, but until then, it's better to have the regular one.
thanks guys thats awesome feedback, especially the Chris Rock reference, I forgot about that one! I'll definately use it! oh, did I mention that after he graduated he was gonna to go to Europe with his dad? Well, not if he has to take a course to graduate he's not! I wonder if that is an influence on his thought of a GED instead?! But seriously, I'll have a talk with the kid. He's not my son but he is my first nephew and I do care what happens to him. thanks again
I had to take an Algebra class in summer school after I graduated. Luckily, my Principal let me "walk" even though I was a credit short to get my degree. I aced the class and got my degree in the mail after I started college.
My roommate in college had a GED. He was a smart guy who didn't like school so much, so he generally just went to IHOP instead. During the second semester of his junior year, the administration told him he had missed so much school he'd have to be held back. My buddy said "screw that" and dropped out, getting his GED. It was not a huge academic hindrance to him; like me, he was accepted into UH's Honors College. Not exactly Harvard, but not too shabby, either. So, essentially he just skipped a year and a half of high school. HOWEVER. This did not set a good precedent for my friend. He learned that going to school wasn't all that necessary, since no ill had come of his chronic absenteeism. He continued his truant ways in college and promptly flunked the F out. Many important lessons are taught in upper-level high school courses, such as how to write a decent essay. He never learned the proper method, which was of course expected in the Honors program. He got a lot of partying done, but wound up wasting a ton of his parents' money on an abysmal GPA that will take years to recover from if he ever goes back to school. The GED gave him a unique opportunity, but he didn't have the necessary experience provided by a couple years of hard work in high school to take advantage of it.
Ya my school district sent me a letter saying that I was on the brink of being sent a social worker to make sure that I get to school. I replied back saying that IF they want to send me a free personal alarm clock everyday, be my guest... They never sent anything after that, just got my assistant principal on my ass about how important it was for me to come to school for atleast 60% for the rest of the year... O well, IMO cant touch this, esp with 2 days of HS left.
I dropped out of highschool because of personal reason for my final 2 years of school. Opted to go take the GED test over the summer and muster through community college for 2 years and transfer over to UT or A&M. I'm aiming to be a marine biology major and I heard those are quality schools for it. I really don't think a GED or a highschool diploma will matter much unless he's planning on going to a hard to get in school and considering he should of graduated this semester he should of already received letters of acceptance from the colleges he opted to get in. Summer school or GED I don't think he could wrong either way. I personally don't plan on putting my GED diploma on my resume ever when I'll have a nice college graduate degree in a few years. As far as having a tough time finding jobs that require a highschool diploma, I'm pretty lucky in that aspect. I work at the state capitol due to being good friends with a State Rep. over there and do part time work. It should go well on my resume when I eventually transfer over to a 4 year university as long as I keep my GPA up which I have every intention of doing. However him getting a GED isn't just run into the nearest testing facility and get your results ASAP. You actually do have to take preliminary classes to see what your strengths and weaknesses are in literary, math and science skills which are pretty basic. I only needed to go to the intro class and another class afterwards once they saw I didn't need any tutoring or help to take a freaking GED test. Still took a good 2 weeks to qualify to take the exam, and another week to take the 2 part exam to get my diploma which takes about 4 weeks to actually get. Then after you do get the GED and apply for a school you'll have to take a test called a TASP tests to see where you qualify in math and literary skills on a college level. Depending on how poor or well you do, you'll find yourself either taking preliminary classes to qualify for a college level literary or math course. So in summation going for a GED isn't as much of a breeze as it used to be when you want to apply it to even go to a community college. So in summation he should suck it up for the one summer course and save himself a lot of time.
