Sherman’s GED Test Advice

Welcome to Sherman’s advice column archive. This is a collection of the emails sent to Sherman at passGED.com over the last few months. You will find answers to many questions you have about the GED. If you have questions about the GED test that are not answered here, you may write Sherman at: Contact Us.

To find the answers to the questions, simply scroll down or click on the question.

1. How many points do I need to pass the GED test?
2. How important is the GED essay?
3. Where can I get free GED study material?
4. What’s the hardest part of the GED?
5. Why should I bother with a GED?
6. I need help with the GED math test!
7. A teacher joke!
8. How much should I study for the GED?
9. GED: A success story!
10. Is the GED harder than high school?
11. What is an Internet high school diploma?
12. Can I take the GED test online?
13. I’m overwhelmed about the GED test. Where do I start?

1. How many points do I need to pass the GED test?

Dear Sherman,
How many questions do I need to get right to pass the GED test?
Tom Smith, Galveston, TX

Dear Tom,
Good question. A lot of other students have asked similar questions about the GED test. Up until 2002, some states had different scoring requirements for passing the GED tests, but now all states follow the same standardized GED testing scoring system.

You need to get a score of at least 410 on each GED test to pass it, and an overall average score of 450 for the five-test battery. This means that your score for any individual GED test cannot be below 410, but if you get some that low, you need some of the GED tests to be well above 410 so that the scores for all five GED tests average out to at least 450.

Each question on the GED test equals one point. Points are converted into a standard score, which ranges from 200 to 800. To receive a standard score of 410 on an individual GED test, you generally need to answer 60 to 65 percent of the GED test questions correctly.

Tom, the bottom line is this. You can miss one out of three questions on the GED test and still pass the GED.

2. How important is the GED Essay?

Dear Sherm,
I have some questions about the essay part of the GED test. First, how come the essay question of the GED test is not a question? Second, how important is the essay to the total score of the GED test? And, lastly, a friend of mine took the GED essay test and said they only give you enough room to write two pages. Is that how long the essay in the GED test should be?
Sharon Lewiston, Orange, CA

Dear Sharon,
The essay question of the GED test is a prompt or topic, not a question. The difference is that a prompt is intended to help you begin to write about a subject or topic. The topics are general enough so that you can use your own knowledge and experience to respond. The point of the essay is to measure your writing ability in the GED test, not what you know. You must keep the essay centered on the prompt topic, but you can bring in your own observations and experience.

To answer your second question about the GED test, the score on the essay represents only 8% of your total GED testing score. But if you do not achieve at least 2 out of 4 points on the essay of the GED test, you will not pass the Language Arts Writing test, even though you may have received enough points on the multiple-choice portion. Then you have to take the whole Language Arts Writing test over. The good news is that you need to score only a “Marginal” or better to pass the essay of the GED test. Essay readers will score your paper as follows:

4-Effective

3-Adequate

2-Marginal

1-Inadequate

Your last question about the GED test has to do with the length of the essay. There is no longer a word count requirement on the essay in the GED test. The readers will not read more than two pages (both sides of the answer sheet). A good GED test essay will be close to two pages long. Shorter essays may not allow for enough development of your topic.

3. Where can I get free GED study material?

Dear Sherman,
I dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and am not working now. I am a single mom with two kids and money is an issue. I want to do the GED test. Where can I get free GED study material and courses?
Sherri Sanchez, Dallas, TX

Dear Sherri,
Finding inexpensive study material for the GED test is a challenge. Here are some that I found helpful.

1. Your public library will have many of the study guides and GED lesson plans available for loan, and may have videos and CD ROM GED testing study courses as well.
   
   
2. Your local PBS television station broadcasts GED courses that you can take. Check out this link for times in your area: http://www.pbs.org/literacy. The site also offers some online courses for basic skills required for the GED test. They are all free.
   
   
3. Most community colleges offer GED courses or classes in basic high school skills. The cost of these GED courses will vary from area to area, but generally they are not too expensive.
   
   
4. Your local school district may have continuing education courses or adult learning courses. There is often grant money available to school districts to put together programs for adult learners. Give them a call to see if they have the material you require for the GED test.
   
   
5. PassGED.com was created to provide low cost help for GED test candidates. We offer study aids and books that will help you and will be offering many more in the next few months. We are making an effort to price our GED test preparation courses and study guides so that most everyone can afford them. Stay tuned to www.passGED.com for new developments.

4. What’s the hardest part of the GED?

Dear Sherman,

What’s the hardest part of the GED test? My friend who just took it said the math part was the hardest. What do you think?

Julio

Dear Julio,

This is a difficult question to answer because it depends on a person’s skill in each GED test area. Based on my experience with GED test takers, the mathematics test is considered most challenging because it requires knowing math facts and operations that you may have forgotten or were never taught to begin with. The essay writing in the GED test may be challenging for people who do not have much experience writing this type of paper. It should be noted, however, that the scoring for the essay in the GED test is fairly lax. You do not have to be a Steinbeck to pass it.

5. Why should I bother with a GED?

Dear Sherman,

What good is the GED? Why should I bother about the GED test?

Dynamic

Dear Dynamic,

Here are some facts about having your GED that you might want to consider.

1. A GED will help you get a job. Employers would rather hire someone who has the basic skills to pass the GED test than someone who does not. Completing the GED means that the graduate has the fortitude to successfully finish a seven and one-half hour exam. This GED is not a small thing.
   
   
2. You will earn more money in your lifetime with a GED. Research shows that people with a GED make an average of $385,000 more in their lifetime than people who do not have a GED or high school diploma.
   
   
3. Passing the GED test will make you more valuable to your employer because you will have gained basic writing, math, and thinking skills. Getting your GED will make you a better employee. You will have an upper hand in getting promotions with a GED.
   
   
4. Having the GED opens up a lot of doors for advanced training. Most specialized training programs require either a high school diploma or a GED.
   
   
5. You will feel better about yourself with a GED because you have accomplished something that only 60% of high school graduates can do.

6. I need help with the GED Math Test!

Dear Sherman,

I am really nervous about the GED math test. I did not do well with math in high school. I have been looking at some of the study guides for the GED math test and get even more nervous. Seems like too much for me to learn. What do you suggest?

Allison Granitowski

Dear Allison,

What you suffer from is called "math anxiety." Many people suffer from the same ailment. The problem is so widespread that books are actually written about it.

I would suggest first taking an official GED practice test or online GED practice test and  see where your strengths and weaknesses are in math. My experience is that one can reduce a lot of anxiety just by having a better idea of what one needs to work on. Most anxiety comes from the unknown. To find out more about the official practice tests, click here: GED practice test

Once you know what areas you need to work on for the GED test, just keep doing practice problems using the study guides and GED lesson plans. When you get something wrong, go back and study the instructional material in the guides or take an online course. Then try the problems again. Persistence counts for a lot.

A helpful study guide is Contemporary’s GED Mathematics. You can read a review this book at: http://www.passged.com/book_store.php

7. A teacher joke!

Hey Sherm,

Here’s one for you. How many teachers does it take to change a light bulb?

Anthony Digloshi

Dear Anthony,

Oh, that’s easy. It takes ten teachers to change a light bulb. One to screw in the bulb, and nine to take notes and discuss it.

May be we need some better jokes. Anyone have any?

8. How much should I study for the GED?

Dear Sherman,

A friend of mine just took the GED test and passed it without studying much at all. He told me it was a breeze and that I don’t need to study. What do you recommend, just taking it without much studying, or spending a lot of time preparing for the GED test?
Stevie Long

Dear Stevie,

My advice is to stop listening to your friends. More than 1 out of 3 people who take the GED tests do not pass. The better prepared you are for the GED test, the greater your chances of doing well. My advice is to study as much as possible for the GED test. In fact, over study if you can. The more confident you are with the material for the GED test, the better you will do. Attitude is about 80% of success.

Another reason to study for the GED test is that most of what you study for the GED will be useful to you, either in your job or in daily living. The GED test is really a measure of practical skill. We can never get too much of that.

What many people do is take a practice GED test to see how well they will do on the real test as well as to identify areas they need to study.

Good luck.
Sherman

9. GED: A success story!

Dear Sherman,

Yea!!! I just passed my GED test and thought I would let you know how much I appreciate your advice. When I last wrote, I was about at the end of my rope with trying to pass the GED tests. I had taken it twice and still had not passed the math, essay and reading parts of the GED test. I thought I would never pass the GED test.

The bad thing was that all this failure was really affecting my whole life. My friends, family, and even my boyfriend, were treating me like a loser. I was depressed and feeling pretty low.

So, what happened to turn it around? A couple of things helped. First, taking the online course really helped. It was actually fun. Then there was your advice on the GED test in one of the newsletters to just keep trying and not let the failure of the test get me down. What I did not realize up until then was how hard the GED testing really is. I thought it was kind of an easy way out of high school, but actually only about 60% of graduating seniors can pass the GED test.

The other thing that helped me was to practice more on my writing. I used a book by Denny Tillman called How to Prepare for the GED. It really helped because it gave me a good GED lesson plan to follow and a much better understanding of how the essay in a GED test is scored.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks and give an encouraging word to others.

Jennifer Cory, New Jersey

Dear Jennifer,

Thanks for the note. Good luck on your future.

Sherm

10. Is the GED harder than high school?

Dear Sherman,

My question is whether the GED tests are harder or easier than high school tests? I know people who have taken the GED test and some say it’s easier; others say it’s harder. What do you think? Winston Clark

Dear Winston,

A good question. The short answer is no, the GED test is not as difficult as high school. High school is four long years of classes in subjects that sometimes have little relevance to life after school. In high school, you generally have to memorize a lot of information and practice skills that you rarely ever use again. In this sense, high school is much more difficult than the GED test, if for no other reason than the tedium of it.

The GED test has gleaned the most essential knowledge and skills from high school. The emphasis in the GED tests is not on memorization, but on the application of practical knowledge and using thinking skills in the context of given information.

For some people, the GED testing can seem more difficult than high school because it is easier to just memorize information than know how to use it. For people who have not had much experience in making inferences, analyzing data, and making judgments, the GED test can seem difficult.

Perhaps a better way to look at it is what will you get out of the experience of earning a GED diploma. Preparing for and passing the GED test will have huge implications in your life. Not only will it help you get a better job and make more money, but you will also learn thinking skills that will enable you to make better decisions involving money, politics, and interactions with other people. Some have questioned the benefit of a high school education in terms of practical knowledge, but few can question the lasting benefit from what you learn in your preparation for the GED test.

Good luck.
Sherman

11. What is an Internet high school diploma?

Dear Sherman,

I see on the Internet that some websites offer high school diplomas online. What is your opinion of these?

Cynthia Williams

Dear Cynthia,

There are websites that “sell” high school diplomas for a fee and promise you an Internet high school diploma at home. These sites masquerade as actual schools, and for the cost of tuition, usually $200 to $1,000, they will send you a bunch of books and a test. When you complete the test, you get the piece of paper that says you graduated from high school.

My opinion is that the overwhelming majority of these schools are frauds. The diploma you get is not an actual high school diploma because the schools are not accredited (or they're "accredited" by made-up agencies), nor is the test you take anything close to what you would need to know to get a real high school diploma or a GED.

You may be able to fool some employers with a phony diploma, but if your employer or technical school researches your "high school" or asks for a transcript of your high school records, you will be in trouble. The phony high schools will not issue a transcript record of your performance because you never went to school there--or worse, the "transcript" will be a fraud.

In my opinion, they are a waste of money and time. If you are going to put effort into getting a high school diploma, make it worth your while by going through an accredited school or course.

Sherman

12. Can I take the GED Test online?

Dear Sherman,

Can I take the GED test online?

Shabaz

Dear Shabaz,

I get letters with this question about online GED test all the time. No, it is not possible to take the GED test online. The GED test is a seven and a half hour timed test. It would be very difficult to insure that test takers taking the GED test at home on their computers do not get help from other people or study guides while taking the GED test. To find a test location in your area, go to: http://www.passged.com/test_state.php

13. I’m overwhelmed about the GED test. Where do I start?

Dear Sherman,

Where do I start with preparation for taking the GED tests? It seems like such a big thing. I didn’t do well in high school and I am overwhelmed by all the things I have to learn. Any suggestions?

Tami

Dear Tami,
Here is what I suggest.

First, take an official GED practice test online to see what you need to study. You may be surprised to find that you are better off than you think. I would suggest using an official GED practice test instead of the ones in the study guidebooks. The official practice test will convert your score to an actual GED score so you know what you would get on the actual test. You can get official practice tests at: http://www.passged.com/practice_tests.php

Next, design a GED lesson plan in the areas in which you did not get a score of at least 450. Buy some study guides and spend time reviewing each area and doing problems. You may want to take a course at your community college in the areas that you need a lot of work in or take one of passGED.com’s online courses.

Retake the official practice test when you feel you are ready for the real test. If you still do not get at least a 450 on all the test areas, you can go back and do more studying for the GED test, or just go ahead and take the test and pass as many tests as you can. You are allowed to retake the test in the areas you do not pass. This can be expensive, but sometimes worth the money.

Sherman