Do you have a GED?????

[nurse4theplanet]

During class, a fellow student stated that she had a GED instead of a High School Diploma. Many students in the class were shocked because she is an "A" student. I also have a GED, make exceptional grades, and found that many people seem to be in disbelief when I tell them that I dropped out of highschool. I understand the stigma...but my question is:

How many of you have a GED? AND...have you ever been passed over for a position in nursing because you do not have a diploma?

:mortarboard:

[1st edition]

I didn't even go to high school. I quit 4 mos into 9th grade. Took and passed my GED 1st try at age 19. Got a degree w/ a 3.3 GPA. No one has ever asked me about high school. College math is (still pursuing a higher degree) difficult but I don't have the mathematical foundation for it but it is not impossible. Having a GED should not be a stigma or barrier for anything.

[slou!]

A lot of people think GED's are for people who dropped out of high school, but they are also for people who are homeschooled. I just read an article on Yahoo about how colleges are becoming more and more open to homeschooled students who get their GED (http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2006/sep/30/home-schooling-less-hurdle-college-bound/). No matter the reason someone gets their GED, either drops out of school, or is homeschooled, it bothers me when people assume that they are stupid. You don't know why they dropped out or even why they got their GED. I'm not saying anyone on this post was doing assuming that (everyone was saying the opposite), but people in general sometimes assume people with a GED and did not actually graduate from high school aren't as smart as those who did.

Honestly, my high school was easy. All you had to do was show up and get 65's in every subject (very easy to do!) to graduate. The teachers wanted us to graduate so bad that they would make it sometimes too easy to pass. This means that a lot of people who did go and get their GED worked harder than a lot of those who graduated high school.

[nurse4theplanet, RN]

I was just curious. I dropped out in 12th grade with a 4.0....won't go into why as it is a lengthy story, but it was not due to lack of intelligence or commitment. Anyhow, I made a 27 on ACT in tenth grade and had already received an acceptance letter from a local university. I chose to join the military for college tuition and served four years in the National Guard. I chose the ADN route as a means of getting into the feild quickly. I can now earn the RN pay while completing my higher education. I have never been asked about why I have a GED rather than a HS diploma from any person in Admissions/HR/Management. However, in casual conversation people are very shocked and inquisitive about "why"..."I don't fit the stereotype", etc. So I am just hoping that it never becomes an issue on a professional level. It doesn't seem to have caused an issue for anyone here, thank goodness. Thanks!

[Lisa CCU RN, RN]

Honestly, my high school was easy. All you had to do was show up and get 65's in every subject (very easy to do!) to graduate. The teachers wanted us to graduate so bad that they would make it sometimes too easy to pass. This means that a lot of people who did go and get their GED worked harder than a lot of those who graduated high school.

That was exactly how my high school was. I didn't even have to try and get an A or a B because the teachers practically give it to you. If everyone in the class failed a test, they'd just give you the answers and you'd just memorize them.

I'm not proud, but in my senior year, I decided that I was getting off too easy and I tried advanced placement classes. Big mistake! I was so used to doing nothing, that I couldn't keep up with the reading and ended up having to switch back to the easy classes.

I'm glad I don't have that attitude now, or I'd never make it.

[Lovely_RN, MSN]

I think that once you graduate from college the type of H.S. education you had really doesn't matter any longer. Every job that I have had after I graduated from college required proof of my college education not my H.S. education. On the applications for employment I have always been honest and listed that I attended an adult H.S. and obtained a G.E.D but no employer out of the 5 I have had since graduation has ever brought it up. I was even accepted to graduate school for a MSed and attended for a semester, it has NEVER been an issue. I sincerely doubt that anyone who graduates from nursing school and passes the NCLEX will even be asked about their H.S. education during an interview for a nursing position.

[KellieNurse06]

I too have a GED..I hated school as a teenager so I never really put in the effort so I didn't do well.......but I think the difference is anyone who is in school after getting a GED like most people here are in nursing in one way or the other they do great because they WANT to be there...big difference to HAVING to be there ...I am one of those who also has done much better now as an older student. Do I kick myself for not graduating high school? Yes, sure I do.....but I got my GED & am doing great now with college & nursing school......I think when you WANT to be there it makes a huge difference.....I would never look less upon someone simply because they have a GED versus a high school diploma................and the comment someone had mentioned about that discussion that was going on somewhere about those who have GED's went down the wrong path.........please!!!!!!!! I beg to differ on that one....Whoever was making that brilliant analogy must be an idiot.....that is just stupid!.... Anyway GED or Diploma........doesn't matter........it all comes down to the same thing...you did it.

I have also never heard of anyone getting declined to nursing programs due to having a GED.....

[puggymae]

One of my favorite nursing school instructors had a GED. She now has a PhD and is department chair of the program I attended. I don't think it matters - what matters is the present as far as school goes.

[MultipurposeRN]

Got my GED years ago..took it and the ACT in the same week; started college 2 months later after dropping out of hgh school.

Won't affect anything except possibly some branches of the military don't like it unless you've been homeschooled. My son took correspondence school for awhile as a teen, then took his GED when he felt ready. I had to provide a Home school transcript when he joined the Marines. He is now in college, carries a 4.0, made a 33 on his ACT, and has applied for nursing school.

I have a GED, my son has a GED, and my daughter is getting ready to get hers...guess it must run in the family.

[RNinJune2007, RN]

Not only do I not have a high school diploma, I also don't have a GED.

I "finished" high school @ age 15 by choice. I was getting nowhere. My AP (college level) classes I took then I was getting an A, yet I was failing several "on level" classes because of the sheer boredom.

I talked my mom into letting me be homeschooled. I ended up homeschooling only a few months until I turned 15, took the SAT's (they were pretty good), and started my pre-requisites.

It was the best thing I ever did. Legally, I was "graduated" by my own homeschool, but I do not have a diploma or GED, no problem getting into Nursing School (I was a 4.0 college level student when I was barely 17 and applied).

I don't believe not having a HS diploma will hurt anyone from getting a nursing job (they don't look @ high school stuff, as far as I know).

[exnavygirl-RN]

There are students at Harvard with GED's. I looked into it when I first started homeschooling my daughter (who will get a GED and take ACT's,etc).

My friend's son was homeschooled and never got a GED or diploma but took the ACT's and was able to go to college.

I was a lousy high school student (graduated, barely) and to me a diploma is just a piece of paper. A GED really shows what you've got. Just my opinion.

Christy, LPN

I earned a high school diploma. However, there are many brilliant people who have earned their GEDs. One of my college professors admitted he dropped out of high school, earned a GED, and attended community college for three years before transferring to the University of Texas at Dallas. One of my nursing school classmates earned all 'A' grades despite having a GED.

[QTBabyNurse, BSN, RN]

i have a ged....graduated top of my class when i received my rn and received the "outstanding academic achievement" award at pinning. i passed boards the first time around and i am currently in a master's program. what i did when i was 17 has no effect on who i am today.....well...maybe it does...it has a positive effect on who i am today!!

[SaraO'Hara]

Going back a couple of years to high school... I couldn't take the 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, plus weekend homework, of subjects I was required to take and had absolutely no interest in. I maintained a C average only because I had As in A&P and French (my electives!). Essentially, I had to get my GED or go absolutely stark raving mad.

I have gotten As in all my college classes because I'm actually intrigued by what I have to learn :gandalf: