GED's **Why I'm asking post 36**

[phorsenuf]

Good, bad or doesn't make a difference anymore.

In my mind (or should I say in my day) its always carried a stigma with it. But more and more people seem to get them these days. Are they now on the same plane as a high school diploma.

How do prospective employers view them these days. How do you view them?

 

[Cool-Beans]

They're an anemic replacement for the real deal.

 

[RUDisney]

I hired one guy in my IT department that had a GED. He was also a single father with 2 children that he was raising on his own. To me, it showed that he had some problems in HS, but he got his act together and GEDs are supposed to be harder to get than a HS diploma.

After he was hired, I found out what his issues were. When he was 9, he watched his mother and several other family members be murdered. The gunman pointed the gun at him, but changed his mind and didn't fire at him. He guesses it was because the gunman and his father were friends. Who knows the real reason. He was the one to pick up the bloody phone to call 911.

Had I known the background, I probably would have hired him. In hindsight, he needed help that no one had gotten him over the years to deal with witnessing these deaths. He was a very capable worker, but he walked off the job one day without ever calling back.

Would I hire someone else with a GED? Yes, I would. I go back to my original statement that it shows that the person is trying to get his/her life back in order after leaving HS without graduating. Sorry that I digressed.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My dh is a high school dropout and has his GED. He did go to college and graduate though.

 

[tasha99]

My family is full of people with GED's who went on and were just fine, including my dad who was a history professor at a community college, my sister who does PR for the local school district, another sister who is working on a Master's in English Lit, and yet another sister who is working on a BS in biology. A GED is what you make it--my family seems to be full of people who just couldn't stand high school, but actually love college.

 

[heartsy77]

I have a GED. I never felt school was for me; then I had kids. I figured out very quickly that if I wanted my children to complete their schooling I had to do it myself. When My dd was 1 years old I took my GED and decided to start my own business. After a few years at working from home I was ready for a change and college was the next logical step. I have been in college for the last three years, some semesters full some part time, while I still worked full time. I have been excepted to nursing school this fall and I have LOVED returning to school! I have been on the deans list almost every semester and the received the president's citation once. I really feel I would never done all of this if I had completed high school as a teen. I feel my GED was a stepping stone to my great life!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have a friend whose son dropped out of HS during his sophmore year. He immediately took the GED and when he would have been a senior he sent his Community College graduation notices to his high school friends. So he was already two years ahead of them. (Possibly the fact that both parents were college professors had something to do with it.)

 

[jaycat]

There still is a stigma that goes with a having a GED, even among 19 year olds. When I was in high school people who dropped out to get a GED were looked down upon. One of my good friends has a GED and some of my other friends (not his friends as well) talked bad about him.

 

[jaycat]

I have a friend whose son dropped out of HS during his sophmore year. He immediately took the GED and when he would have been a senior he sent his Community College graduation notices to his high school friends. So he was already two years ahead of them. (Possibly the fact that both parents were college professors had something to do with it.)

I wanted to do that but my parents wouldn't let me

 

[tasha99]

I wanted to do that but my parents wouldn't let me

I did it and I still didn't graduate college till my 30's, lol. (well, with an Adult High School Diploma at 16 rather than a GED).

 

[JimFitz]

I have a GED but now work for a fortune 500 company as a Vice President. I worked hard....took any opportunity that came my way. I had a very traumatic childhood (drug addicted parents and other things). I had no support system and dropped out to go to work. I would not judge someone with a GED until I learned the circumstances. Education is very important and I will make sure my children complete their education.....but education is not everything. You need to have desire and determination to succeed. I have MBA's from IVY league schools that work for me.

Don't be ashamed of a GED.

 

[tazdev3225]

Two of my kids have GED's. My son had a learning disability and my DD was assaulted in middle school and was terrified of school after that. My DS got his GED and just graduated from the prison academy with a 94.7 average. He worked really hard for it. My DD just took her placement tests and will be starting community college in the fall. I coudn't be any prouder of them. Not everyone can succeed in school for a variety of reasons. A GED shows me that they are still looking to succeed in other ways.

 

[Rebelmom67]

I have a GED because I became pregnant my senior year and was kicked out of school. Anyway, I went on to college and have a Masters degree now.

Short answer = GED is just as good as a high school diploma.

 

[MizTink]

Two of my kids have GED's. My son had a learning disability and my DD was assaulted in middle school and was terrified of school after that. My DS got his GED and just graduated from the prison academy with a 94.7 average. He worked really hard for it. My DD just took her placement tests and will be starting community college in the fall. I coudn't be any prouder of them. Not everyone can succeed in school for a variety of reasons. A GED shows me that they are still looking to succeed in other ways.

 

[Beavers5]

I have a friend whose son dropped out of HS during his sophmore year. He immediately took the GED and when he would have been a senior he sent his Community College graduation notices to his high school friends. So he was already two years ahead of them. (Possibly the fact that both parents were college professors had something to do with it.)

That's what I did as well, HS was boring for me and I didn't see the point in wasting my time there. Once you have your college degree, no one cares whether you have a GED or diploma.

 

[The Mayor]

They're an anemic replacement for the real deal.

Horsecrap...when I got my MBA one of my fellow students had a GED...he left school to help out with his family and got his GED...then on to Community College and a State University...graduated top of his class...then got his MBA...doesn't sound very "generic" to me...you're attitude is very short sited... IMHO.

 

[raysnkaysmom]

They're an anemic replacement for the real deal.

Initially, I was going to 'almost' agree with this..

After reading some reasonings, I had never looked at it that way. I just hear 'GED' and I automatically think dropout... lazy (sadly, I know many who fit that description)... but,...
I've heard it is hard to get the GED, and I commend those who go back for it.
So... I am viewing it differently after reading this thread

 

[Cool-Beans]

Horsecrap...when I got my MBA one of my fellow students had a GED...he left school to help out with his family and got his GED...then on to Community College and a State University...graduated top of his class...then got his MBA...doesn't sound very "generic" to me...you're attitude is very short sited... IMHO.

I didn't say "generic"; I said "anemic."

You may find me short sited (or even short-sighted), but that's what I think about GEDs.

Talking about your friend who happened to have a GED really has nothing to do with the GED itself. Your friend's MBA doesn't make a GED the same as a high school diploma. If your friend went to Africa, that wouldn't make a GED the same as a diploma, either, you see.

 

[MushyMushy]

There's no stigma at all where I live, although I do remember there being one when I was younger.

It was a consideration for my son. He was doing so miserably in school because of behavior, and then once he finally settled down he was still getting crap because of his former reputation. Not saying that's right or wrong, it just is what it is. Also, in talking to the university where he had wanted to go, their opinion was that he was missing too many classes to be able to get accepted (foreign languages, upper level math and some others), but if he'd gotten his GED and did well on the ACT, he'd get in with no problem. He did decide to finish school, but I would have been just as proud of him if he'd taken his GED to get ahead in life.

 

[friendofgusgus]

I have a friend whose son dropped out of HS during his sophmore year. He immediately took the GED and when he would have been a senior he sent his Community College graduation notices to his high school friends. So he was already two years ahead of them. (Possibly the fact that both parents were college professors had something to do with it.)

I did something similar - only I went away to college after my junior year. I came home for a week in January of my sophomore year in college to take the GED exam - under the laws at the time, that was the first test I was eligible to take.

My GED is dated January of 1987, my Associates degree in dated May of 1987.

It was a good solution for me. Had I stayed in high school another year, I may not have wanted college at all - I was that disillusioned.

I later followed that AA with a Bachelors degree from an Ivy League school and a masters as well.

I smile everytime I think about the fact that I am a high school "dropout."