GED High school ? for anyone in TN

[rhrice3]

My dear friend has a child who is very bright but has some issues. They sent her away to a boarding school for her senior year (long story), but now after 2 years, she has not completed the work and the school is kicking her out. She is over 18 so, of course, the local school district wants nothing to do with her. I immediately thought of GED, because I thought that it was geared toward people out of the system.

 

Another question is what will colleges in the future think of GED? My friend called in tears, and I immediately thought of you wonderful women of the hive. Basically, my friend wants her child to move on in life but right now my friend is feeling desperate.

 

Any thoughts or wisdom would be appreciated

rhrice3

[Pegasus]

The GED can be taken by any student over the age of 18.  I'm not sure what you mean by "people out of the system." A GED would provide the ability to check the box for schools and jobs that require a high school diploma or GED.  A GED is not looked at as favorably as a diploma BUT is much better than not having either one.  

 

Your friend should start with finding out what the young adult wants to do going forward.  Does she WANT to take college courses?  Considering that the last year of high school wasn't completed after 2 years, it may be best to start with one class at the community college and see how that goes and build up from there.  I wouldn't even consider a full schedule at a 4-year school until she has proved herself.

 

Edited to add: I've been thinking about this situation.  I wanted to come back and add that I would seriously consider having her work full time for a year or two. This would give her time to mature and decide what she wants out of her life.  If she decided to go back to school after a couple years, she would likely take it much more seriously.

[Rosie Q]

Here's a link to information on the GED in Tennessee: http://www.tn.gov/labor-wfd/AE/  According to the website, there are free classes in every county to help adults prepare to take the exam, and it offers a link to help find them.

 

Some universities in Tennessee will admit students based on good GED scores alone. Tennessee Tech requires a score of 525 or better on the GED for admissions.

 

[Lolly]

The most critical question would be given that living at home doing nothing is not an option, what does her dd want to do? A GED would allow her to enter many types of schools if that is needed for her goal. But, if dd is not willing, she needs to get out there and find a job that doesn't require a high school degree. She is still young and can change her ambitions if she decides she would prefer a different type of work once she has been out there and experienced real life for a while.

[kiana]

While a GED is probably a good idea at this point, I can't think of any circumstances where she should go to college without working first. At least now, she has the possibility of college in the future, but if she goes off now I would say there's an immensely high probability of flunking out and having both bills/loans and bad grades on her permanent undergraduate transcript.

 

She will probably not be able to get admission as a freshman to a competitive school without a serious 'hook'. In the future, though, she should be able to get into a non-flagship state school or community college without much difficulty, assuming her test scores are okay, and a year of good performance should let her transfer to most places.