GED testing

[Spaceception]

Hey guys, I know this isn't my typical thread, but have any of you taken the GED? And how did you study for it? What can I expect from questions? A few days ago, my parents dropped a bombshell on me, and I found out I have less than 2 months to prep. I could really use all the studying and focusing tips you guys have!
I'm also really nervous about it, and I'm afraid I might have a mental breakdown near the test (And I've never had to deal with anything like that before) so anything you guys have to deal with stress would help as well.

 

This also means I won't be able to work on my novels.

Thanks guys

Edited July 19, 2017 by Spaceception

[StrandedonEarth]

My brother took the GED some 30 years ago, so not much help here. All I can really suggest is checking the local colleges for a GED prep course (my bro took something like that). Or try to find a tutor with experience in GED prep. 

Not a lot of prep time tho ...

[Spaceception]

7 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

My brother took the GED some 30 years ago, so not much help here. All I can really suggest is checking the local colleges for a GED prep course (my bro took something like that). Or try to find a tutor with experience in GED prep.

 

Okay, I'll figure something out.

[Spaceception]

So do any of you have study tips for quickly learning math and science? Like rules of thumb, basic equations that do the same as more complex ones, etc. I'm starting to lag behind

[Ten Key]

There really aren't any short cuts. . .trying to learn math by rote memorization alone won't get you very far. I will say that dimensional analysis has saved my bacon on more than one occasion. It's not going to give you the right answer, but it's very good at highlighting mistakes.

[Benjamin Kerman]

8 hours ago, Spaceception said:

So do any of you have study tips for quickly learning math and science? Like rules of thumb, basic equations that do the same as more complex ones, etc. I'm starting to lag behind

It depends. What are you studying? For some, its just doing a lot of the problems and getting a feel for knowing, not just "knowing" how they work. This can allow you to complete them faster and more efficiently, becuaee you know where you are going with the problem, even before you start. 

[Gargamel]

3 hours ago, Ten Key said:

There really aren't any short cuts. . .trying to learn math by rote memorization alone won't get you very far. I will say that dimensional analysis has saved my bacon on more than one occasion. It's not going to give you the right answer, but it's very good at highlighting mistakes.

He's asking about basic math equations, and you point him towards DA?  That's like asking for help making a paper airplane and somebody hands you the 'keys' to a 747.   But you're right, rote memorization is not the way to go with math.  Correct application of the concepts involved is.  And that just takes time. 

1) Why is this a short term surprise?  I know nothing of your situation or background, but the GED is not something you have surprised upon you.  If you are home schooled, then it should be planned for in advance.  If you are trying to pass it a bit later in life, for whatever reason, then you should have made a long term plan for it. 

2) I know there are a lot of people probably asking this same question, given the nature of the forums and who frequents them, but why aren't you already ready for the test?  Maybe you know you're weak in some areas, but given you are a KSP player, and a writer from what I can see, you ain't no dummy. You should have enough background already to be able to sit for the test and have a decent shot at passing.  If not, you now know what you are weak in. 

3) Assuming you still live at home (and there is nothing wrong with that, it's a good way to bank cash until you can set out on your own), you should sit down with the parent's and instead of the ultimatum I believe this really is, have them help you set up a plan to pass the test by the end of the year.  Take a practice test, attend classes, get a tutor.  Local vocational schools usually run GED prep classes year round-ish. 

4) Once you have identified weaknesses, and you obviously think math is one of them, get a tutor.  Local colleges and HS guidance counselors will usually be able to hook you up with a good one.  It doesn't have to be somebody you know.  A good tutor can do so much more in a subject than a good teacher in a full classroom.  The one on one environment will allow them to help you learn the subjects you are weak in a lot faster than a classroom.

5) Get a tutor.

6) Set out some short and mid-term goals.  I'm getting the feeling, and I may be way off, so apologies if I am, that you are/were hoping to get by writing for a career?  That's a very admirable goal, we need more creative people in the world.  But until you land that big publishing deal, you'll need to find a way to support yourself.  It's very difficult in today's world to get any decent job without a diploma or GED.  Unskilled production labor pays well enough to raise a family on, and usually leaves plenty of time for family or other pursuits, but they won't even look at you if you don't have your GED.  Non GED worker's are usually stuck in minimum wage roles, and you can rarely make ends meet at these wages.   So by setting one of your short term goals (6mo - 1 yr) to be getting your GED, you have allowed your self a better chance of having gainful employment in the future.  Set some other long term goals to help steer your future too.  Perhaps taking a few classes at a local community college that focuses on your writing would be a great mid- term goal (1yr-3yr).   Then write down a couple long term goals (3yr+), and create a set of short and mid term goals you'll need to accomplish to reach that long term goal.  By breaking down the big goals into smaller things, they are much easier to accomplish.  

7) Get a tutor and study your ass off.  If 2 months is all you have, then take a practice test by the end of the week.  I'm guessing there has to be quite a few available online.  See where you are lacking and study those subjects as hard as you can.  There are many free courses available online to help you in your deficiencies.  Even if you fail the first time and don't earn it within the 2 month window, hopefully your parents will understand you applied yourself to passing it, and are very close to doing so in the future and will extend their deadline.

 

Good Luck, and get a tutor.   

[Spaceception]

@Gargamel I actually fell behind in math, by almost 2 years, because I could never really wrap my head around it, and when I did, it took a little bit to fully click (Don't know why), and books did Jack to help in that area. Plus I have to catch up on a grade I haven't even started.

And I am homeschooled, we moved around a lot, so we were always busy

 

I have no idea why they did that. I think they overestimated me, I mean, maybe 6 months to a year advance would be better, but I really just need help passing, and when I do I'll sit down, and study it a hell of a lot more closely, since I want to be an Astrobiologist.

And yeah, I want to be a published author, and I do understand I'll need a better paying job for awhile

Edited August 17, 2017 by Spaceception

[Benjamin Kerman]

So what years of math do you need help on?

[kerbiloid]

Write tiny cheat sheets but don't take them.
You have to study the theme enough well to prepare a tiny cheat sheet.

Sleeping well is usually more important than learning everything.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2017 by kerbiloid

[Gargamel]

19 hours ago, Spaceception said:

@Gargamel I actually fell behind in math, by almost 2 years, because I could never really wrap my head around it, and when I did, it took a little bit to fully click (Don't know why), and books did Jack to help in that area. Plus I have to catch up on a grade I haven't even started.

And I am homeschooled, we moved around a lot, so we were always busy

 

I have no idea why they did that. I think they overestimated me, I mean, maybe 6 months to a year advance would be better, but I really just need help passing, and when I do I'll sit down, and study it a hell of a lot more closely, since I want to be an Astrobiologist.

And yeah, I want to be a published author, and I do understand I'll need a better paying job for awhile

Get a tutor who focuses on the GED subjects you are weak on.  That would be the best way to to cram for this thing.   Good luck. 

[qzgy]

Ok, can someone explain to me what a GED is? I'm a) one of the younger people on these forums, only in high school, and b)have never heard of this thing.

[Just Jim]

54 minutes ago, qzgy said:

Ok, can someone explain to me what a GED is? I'm a) one of the younger people on these forums, only in high school, and b)have never heard of this thing.

General Educational Development or General Equivalency Diploma (the old name)... I have one.

It's usually what one gets if they don't finish High-school but want and/or need a diploma. In my case I quit HS early 11th grade (Long, sad story...) went and got my GED, and immediately joined the Army. Then a few decades later I went back to school and earned two associates degrees.

@Spaceception, don't panic. Mine wasn't nearly as bad as I feared going into it, and I had a ton of time to do it. Now granted, this was 1980, but I doubt they've changed that much. 

Edited August 18, 2017 by Just Jim

[Spaceception]

15 hours ago, Just Jim said:

 

@Spaceception, don't panic. Mine wasn't nearly as bad as I feared going into it, and I had a ton of time to do it. Now granted, this was 1980, but I doubt they've changed that much. 

What were the questions like? Was it stressful going through it, or was it relatively calm?

[Just Jim]

30 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

What were the questions like? Was it stressful going through it, or was it relatively calm?

It's been a long time, and honestly I can't remember exactly what the questions where. But I'm a bit of a brainiac and a nerd, and I didn't think they were that terribly hard.

As for stressful, yeah... but only before I got there... I was driven to a different high school than my own by an Army recruiter, who was fantastic as talking my stress level down, and not letting it get to me.

Once I was in and sitting down, it wasn't bad at all, in fact I couldn't have asked for better... I don't know how they do it nowadays, but back then I was in an empty class room the whole time! Not a soul to bother or distract me. And thinking back I believe there were a couple timed tests... but for the most part I had way more than enough time to complete a portion, and got to relax and take a breather before the next part. 

The biggest thing I remember is it's really long... so the night before don't try and cram for the test... just try and relax and get a good nights sleep! And no matter how many butterflies you may have that morning, make sure to eat a good breakfast if possible.

 

 

Edited August 18, 2017 by Just Jim

[Kerbart]

Get a few books with practice tests and do one every week. Make sure you do a test in the designated time limit.

There's two elements to a test; the content, and the actual test. Most will detest me for saying this, but improving your test management skills is half the battle:

• Time management is key. Practice is the only way to make sure you don't end up with "ok, hand in your papers" when you're only half way.
• Be familiar with the scoring method. Do you get penalized for wrong answers? Should you have just any answer to a question, even if it's just a random pick? You will need to know that
• Master the art of multiple choice testing. If you can eliminate two answers straight away then making a random pick (or not so random, in verbal answers the longest answer is a ridiculous solid bet) might be worth the risk of a penalty (again, know those stats upfront).
• Don't fall for the temptation of plugging in all answers. You won't have time for that. But it can be viable after eliminating candidates.
• Go over all questions in a first quick round. Skip the ones you cannot immediately answer, do those in round two. But sometimes a question may trigger the solution for a previous question, so it's good to have seen *all* questions.

[Just Jim]

7 minutes ago, Kerbart said:

Get a few books with practice tests and do one every week. Make sure you do a test in the designated time limit.

I didn't know they made these, but I definitely agree!!! 

[Allocthonous]

So I actually took the GED just last month. They make you sign an NDA for the test, so I can't be terribly specific about what sorts of questions there are. I will say that you should read the word problems very carefully before trying to answer them.

They've got a website that you'll have to sign up for to take the test, and they've got practice tests available that should give you at least some idea of what needs work (they do cost a little bit of cash, though). The test itself wasn't too stressful, although I just about ran myself out of time on the essay/long answer portions for English and Science. They don't give you actual paper for scratch paper, they give you a laminated sheet and a dry erase marker. You'll have access to a formula reference sheet for the math test with all the various volume and area formulas, the quadratic formula, and some other stuff. So don't stress rote memorization too much, but figure out where you need to use which one. You'll also have access to a calculator, you can either buy a specific physical model, or use a simulated version that's displayed on the testing screen.    

I don't recommend scheduling all of your tests on the same day, if you can help it. While you can finish a test early, if you do take the whole time you'll end up with about 8 hours of testing all at a whack. They give you plenty of breaks, but that's still a lot of sitting and thinking hard for one day.

I did my test prep for math through the Khan Academy website. It's free to use, has instructional videos that are basically what you'd get sitting in math class in a brick and mortar school, and there are lots of practice exercises that you can do. A month isn't much time to run through all the material it sounds like you'll need to, but you can get a good start on it.

The last thing I'll mention is that failing a portion of the test is not the end of the world. You can retake the GED pretty easily. They will tell you which parts of the test you screwed up on when they give you your score, and the testing fee is reduced for retakes. You can also retake if you passed but want to try again for a better score.

[Gargamel]

On 8/18/2017 at 0:53 PM, Just Jim said:

 But I'm a bit of a brainiac and a nerd, and I didn't think they were that terribly hard.

 

If you're weird like me, and enjoy taking tests, the apparent difficulty of a test is not in line with normal people. 

 

On 8/19/2017 at 8:44 AM, Allocthonous said:

You can also retake if you passed but want to try again for a better score.

Would it matter?  Usually most places, like an employer, don't care what the score is, they just care if you passed.  Is there a reason, other than college admissions, to try and up your score?

[Just Jim]

Just now, Gargamel said:

If you're weird like me, and enjoy taking tests, the apparent difficulty of a test is not in line with normal people. 

true... good point.... I actually like tests... 

[Gargamel]

Just now, Just Jim said:

true... good point.... I actually like tests... 

Yup, I'd rather sit for a test, than do a weekly or daily homework assignment.  Bigger projects I don't mind, but If I know a topic, don't make me do a stupid crossword or something daily, just give me a test.

One study method that has always worked well for me, in particular learning the 100 or so drugs I had to know for my Flight medic cert, is to use flash cards.  And not just flashcards but how you use them.

Write down all the concepts or questions you are trying to study on a set of flash cards.  That first writing will alone help cement them in your brain.  Then go through them and try to answer them.  Anything you get right goes in one pile, wrong in another.   The next day, go through the wrong pile again, promote any right answers to the other pile.   After 3 days of this, go through both stacks.  Anything you get wrong from the right pile gets demoted to the every day pile.   Anything correct from the 3 day pile gets promoted to the week pile.   Then at the end of the week, do the whole thing again, this time not adding another pile. 

So hopefully, your every day pile will diminish quickly, and you won't too take long to do a bit of studying every day, it will get spaced out to longer periods, proving the retention is there. 

[Allocthonous]

18 hours ago, Gargamel said:

Would it matter?  Usually most places, like an employer, don't care what the score is, they just care if you passed.  Is there a reason, other than college admissions, to try and up your score?

If you score higher than a 170 out of 200 (I think, don't quote me on the exact number) you can request they send a recommendation to whatever college you're attending to issue you college credit in the subject. I think over all four exams it amounts to 10 credits of 100 level courses. They charge a fee for doing so, but compared to hundreds of dollars or better of classes that you probably don't really need, it'd be a pretty good deal.