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RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 7:10:19 PM   
SimplySubmissive


Posts: 216
Joined: 1/2/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl

The college I go to even allows students still in high school to take college courses. Granted, I attend a junior (2 year) college, but what's wrong with taking 2 years at a junior college and then transferring to a University? Plenty of students, whether they have a GED or a high school diploma do that anyway. It saves money.


This is what I did. I have a GED and it always embarrassed me to have to circle that. But when I went to get it, I scored very high on all the pre tests, then took all the tests, took 2 visits to the local tech school. This was about 5 years after I should have graduated. (I went to half of 10th grade, then half of 11th). Then I went to the local community college and got an associates, then I transfered that to the university to get my BA. But I still have that funny feeling about the ged. It was very very simple, as long as you had good reading/comprehension skills.

(in reply to defiantbadgirl)
Profile   Post #: 41
RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 8:03:06 PM   
sweetnsensual


Posts: 61
Joined: 9/9/2005
Status: offline 		Wow there were a lot of replies in (my mind at least) not a very long time.  Firstly, thanks everyone who replied and shared their experiences and thoughts.

Unfortunately there were quite a bit of replies and I didn't get to read them all because I was burning to answer some of the questions that seemed to come up and clarify a little bit.

The 2 classes she is struggling to make up are gym classes.  In one of her gym classes she has had about 20 absences because of her depression and doctor appointments like I've mentioned.  I'm unsure of how many days she's missed in her other gym class, possibly more or less than the first gym class.  The school and teachers have doctor's notes but they still need something to grade in order to give her a grade.  It's understandable but she wants to graduate, obviously.  At her school, it is a requirement to have 3 years of gym or "Physical Education" to graduate.  She's one credit behind in gym than other seniors because she'd failed the class previously (she's overweight, the kids make fun of her, she's self-conscious, health reasons on top of that etc.) 

I'm pretty very 95% sure that they don't offer gym in summer school.  When a student is lacking in credits, they come back after their senior year for one semester to make up their credits.  They're "lovingly" referred to as Super-Seniors.  

I should probably make something else clear: she hates the school.  Ever since her freshman year, there has been nothing but trouble and fighting with the administrators.  She's a bit willful, not really "normal" or "ordinary" and the school seems to want her to fit ever so neatly into the slot they've provided and when she doesn't or even can't, it causes problems between her and the school officials.  Plus she's a bit opinionated and shares those opinions sometimes in a very loud and attention-getting way (i.e. walking out of school to protest the war with some of her friends, writing articles in the school newspaper against the principal banning participation in the Day of Silence etc).  It's been nothing but this seemingly unending battle between her and the school and she says she's just really tired.  I think it's her depression talking a lot of the time--she's no longer feeling motivated and she's extremely overwhelmed.   The school has been nothing but stress--the other students being cruel, the teachers, the officials, the politics, etc...she has high-blood pressure due largely to that school and her days there and her doctor agrees.

She's not making any decisions yet--she doesn't even know where to start if she did want to get her GED, she still has many questions.  She's also waiting to her from one of her gym teachers tomorrow if there's any hope at all.  If not, as of tonight she seems comfortable in the idea of quitting school and getting her GED.  She'd have time to do things she wants to: sleeping in, getting things organized, better plan for her life, travel if she wanted, write (she loves to write and hasn't had time to do so in a long time), do things she enjoys until she can sign up for college classes.  She says she has no ties, nothing holding her to the school.  She has friends but it seems she doesn't feel them keeping her there anymore.  She's no longer concerned about Prom, the one dance she was thinking about going this year because she's "too fat and wouldn't know who to go with anyway."  If you knew her and the school and the guys there, you might understand better if you don't now.

Also, someone mentioned working while being in school.  One person said it's not a good thing--which I agree.  I've done it and it's very difficult juggling school AND work, even if the work is only 27 hours a week and 6 classes of school a day.  Her mother and mine in fact, both wanted us to quit working on our last semester.  She didn't want to because--as silly as this may sound to some, it's important to her--she wanted to finish paying for her car.  Car was originally her mother's, mother got a new one and was about to send the other car back to the dealership but daughter started paying for it herself.  It's only got another year or less on it and it seemed like a waste to pay SO much money on it only to let it go.  It was both practical and impractical of her but that's neither here nor there now.  She pays for the car with the money from her job, it's not just "spending money."  Car and gas, that's pretty much the extent of her paycheck.  

Like I said, she's not making any decisions, she's just looking at the GED as a semi-serious option for her, if the need arises.  It may, it may not.  She's only concerned with any opportunities lost if she got her GED in terms of future jobs or college.  Oh, someone else also mentioned her plans for the future.  She's already been accepted to the local community college and as I mentioned earlier has an interest in Creative Writing.  She'll either stay at CC for one year like Columbia in Chicago suggested or just stay two years at CC and then transfer.  She hasn't visited Columbia in Chicago yet but she plans to.  She likes the idea of it because it's the only art school she's seen so far that considers Creative Writing art just as much as they do painting, photography etc.  Plus the things she's read about the place makes her giddy so she's definitely interested. 

If there are any more insights or thoughts into this topic brought on by my new post, please let me know. 

Take care and thanks again. 

(in reply to SimplySubmissive)
Profile   Post #: 42
RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 8:06:20 PM   
Solinear


Posts: 283
Joined: 1/8/2007
Status: offline 		To many,

I think that perhaps the most important thing is to realize 2 things:

  1) 99% of all employers don't check on your high school attendance, grades or diploma status - hell, half of them won't even check to see if your Masters degree is real (yes, I'm serious). 

  2) Your skills, regardless of your status of a GED holder, will show your worth and capabilities and make your status of GED/Diploma or just plain old dropout completely irrelevant.

I have a GED.  I don't care whether anyone knows or not.  I'm a high-end computer geek working with large companies, fixing their environment, making recommendations (most of which are followed exactly) and setting policies.  I think that the response from most if I told them that I dropped out of high school, got a GED and never got more than a half dozen credits of college before getting bored out of my skull would be something along the lines of what the person who got a Business Admin degree got from someone who he was interviewing with - "That's nice".

Just to be honest... a GED is only going to make a difference for your first position in a field.  After that, it's on your skills and desire to learn what you need.  Not even a Medical Doctorate requires that you get a High School diploma... or any other job that you may want, for that matter.

(Edit: had to fix a typo, can't look like an uneducated doofus when I'm posting that 'official' education is irrelevant)


< Message edited by Solinear -- 3/6/2007 8:07:54 PM >

(in reply to SimplySubmissive)
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RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 8:20:12 PM   
farglebargle


Posts: 10715
Joined: 6/15/2005
From: Albany, NY
Status: offline
quote:

I'm a high-end computer geek working with large companies, fixing their environment,


You fix their equipment. The HVAC geeks fix the environment.



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(in reply to Solinear)
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RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 8:30:18 PM   
unsung


Posts: 183
Joined: 12/23/2006
Status: offline 		Don't mean to highjack here, but resistance is futile:

So speaking of debt, if someone steals your identity does that mean they also steal your debt?  I guess one could not be so lucky to have a double edged sword played in their favour for this one, huh?  lol

(in reply to popeye1250)
Profile   Post #: 45
RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 8:55:50 PM   
MsParados


Posts: 183
Joined: 3/1/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: cjenny

How old does one get before that isn't really researched? My ex husband is looking for a job, I did his resume & totally omitted high school ( he did not graduate nor get a GED). He has taken several night classes.
He is erm....*counting* 44 and when I was in a supervisory hiring position most resumes only went back 7-10 years. That was a few years ago, I'm wondering if it is still standard to look back only within the past decade?

OP, I personally consider a GED as a solid statement of education. Not everyone has the chance to finish 'normal' school due to circumstances beyond their control. I said that backwards lol but hopefully it made sense.


It really depends on the company. Locally all the major companies requier proof of at least HS grad or GED, with no difference being given in treatment between the two. I know this because last year Daddy, at 38 had to take the vermont GED to supply Energizer with proof to get hired.
I even think depending on what state you live in the GED is better to get. Take South Carolina, # 49 in education in the country, alot of teens are graduating but read at a 5th grade level. The GED is a standardized test that has certain expectations and requierments that must be met, where if you just showed up and did the bare minumum you can pass HS. And if you plan on going to college afterwards I wouldn't forsee it causing any issues in most if any fields. Though in the past it wasn't always seen that way.

(in reply to cjenny)
Profile   Post #: 46
RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 9:17:47 PM   
FangsNfeet


Posts: 3758
Joined: 12/3/2004
Status: offline 		Either way, it's a low paying, if not minimum wage job.

My advice. Get the GED and then enroll in a 4 - 6 month certification course. There are tons of them in the medical field. Pharmacy Techs are doing pretty darn good right now. Jobs who hire for certified personel only care for the Certificate and the Regestration within the state of occupance. A GED or Diploma would not make a damn difference after becoming a Certified Something.

The next step to suggest would be community college. Weither or not she gets an associates degree, the college hours will get her just about anywhere she'd like to go. Study hard for a high SAT score.    

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(in reply to sweetnsensual)
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RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 9:39:51 PM   
cyberdude611


Posts: 2596
Joined: 5/7/2006
Status: offline 		Is a college degree worth it? A study was recently done and the statistics showed that over the course of 40 years, a person with a Bachelor's degree will make an average of $2.1 million dollars more than a person with only a high school diploma.

Keep also in mind that in the United States and European Union, manufacturing and general labor jobs are declining due to outsourcing and lax immigration policies. So these kind of jobs will soon start to pay less money as the job market gets more flooded with applicants. People who have a post-secondary degree will have an advantage and also leverage to demand more money.

But too often college education is not being used the way it is supposed to be. The vast majority of college students go to college for one reason...to get a good career that makes money. Sometimes they find that job, sometimes they don't. When you graduate from college, there is no gurantee written anywhere that you are going to get a 50k a year job. There is no gurantee that you will enjoy your job. But there is a gurantee that you will leave that school with more knowledge, more understanding, and a better way of viewing the world around you (critical thinking). This makes you much more likely to live a successful life than someone that is missing that knowledge.
Studies also show that once you leave school, your intelligence level drops because the brain cells are no longer being stimulated and learning. Your ability to retain information also begins to decline. This effect dimminishes the longer someone is in school. This is true. When you look at the geniuses of the world, do they ever stop learning? Einstein never stopped learning and expanding ideas.

There is also the reality that a high school degree is basically worthless. If you go through high school with the bare minimum of requirements in order to pass, you will not be ready for college coursework. Your math and writing skills will not measure up to college level at all. And most high school grads become shocked when they find out they can't get into college without first going through a number of college prep courses that have to teach everything from simple math to grammar skills.

(in reply to unsung)
Profile   Post #: 48
RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 10:41:13 PM   
popeye1250


Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: cyberdude611

Is a college degree worth it? A study was recently done and the statistics showed that over the course of 40 years, a person with a Bachelor's degree will make an average of $2.1 million dollars more than a person with only a high school diploma.

Keep also in mind that in the United States and European Union, manufacturing and general labor jobs are declining due to outsourcing and lax immigration policies. So these kind of jobs will soon start to pay less money as the job market gets more flooded with applicants. People who have a post-secondary degree will have an advantage and also leverage to demand more money.

But too often college education is not being used the way it is supposed to be. The vast majority of college students go to college for one reason...to get a good career that makes money. Sometimes they find that job, sometimes they don't. When you graduate from college, there is no gurantee written anywhere that you are going to get a 50k a year job. There is no gurantee that you will enjoy your job. But there is a gurantee that you will leave that school with more knowledge, more understanding, and a better way of viewing the world around you (critical thinking). This makes you much more likely to live a successful life than someone that is missing that knowledge.
Studies also show that once you leave school, your intelligence level drops because the brain cells are no longer being stimulated and learning. Your ability to retain information also begins to decline. This effect dimminishes the longer someone is in school. This is true. When you look at the geniuses of the world, do they ever stop learning? Einstein never stopped learning and expanding ideas.

There is also the reality that a high school degree is basically worthless. If you go through high school with the bare minimum of requirements in order to pass, you will not be ready for college coursework. Your math and writing skills will not measure up to college level at all. And most high school grads become shocked when they find out they can't get into college without first going through a number of college prep courses that have to teach everything from simple math to grammar skills.


Yes, I saw that study but hindsight is easy.
Will it be worth it in the next forty years is the question they should have asked.
We've lost a hell of a lot of manufacturing jobs in the last 40 years!
What people don't realise is that for every 100,000 blue collar jobs lost you also lose 30-35,000 white collar jobs.
Accountants, secretarys, all levels of managers, engineers, designers and all the ancillary jobs that manufacturing requires.
And all the companies and their jobs who supply those manufacturers.
The big corporations that move overseas or outsource and expect to still have access to the U.S. market  are actually canibalising their own markets as the middle class decreases.
People who make $10 per hour can't afford to buy their products.
We really do need to end all this outsourcing and moving factories overseas and start making things in this country again.
If we don't then we're looking at tough times ahead.
"That's nice." That's what she said.
And the trainer told me; "forget whatever you learned in college, we're going to teach you our way."
And they did.

(in reply to cyberdude611)
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RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/6/2007 11:27:53 PM   
DomKen


Posts: 19457
Joined: 7/4/2004
From: Chicago, IL
Status: offline 		Back at the turn of the century I was a contractor for an HR outsourcing company. These guys did the initial interviews and the resume screening for a lot of mid-size and larger firms. Their policy was to delete any resume that admitted a GED. So their hundred or so clients simply would not ever hire someone with a GED. When I was doing the work to make the website resume submission process do this automatically I asked why it was the policy and I was told it was pretty common in corporate america that a GED was considered a marker for an undesirable employee. Whether that was racial or socio economic or just indicated a quitter I'm not sure about.

(in reply to popeye1250)
Profile   Post #: 50
RE: GED same as Diploma? - 3/7/2007 6:03:41 AM   
KatyLied


Posts: 13029
Joined: 2/24/2005
From: Pennsylvania
Status: offline
quote:

I'm pretty very 95% sure that they don't offer gym in summer school.


Schools have some flexibility here.  I think she should meet with the phys ed teacher and the principal and see what alternatives can be worked out.  I did this with my um when he had to make up gym.  He did extra time in the weight room and on the exercise bike, plus some things outside of school that could be documented (bowling).  It's worth meeting and discussing.


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(in reply to sweetnsensual)
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