If you don’t have a high school diploma, you’ve probably thought to yourself – I should probably get a GED at some point. We’d assume that’s correct. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here, right?
GED is an excellent alternative to a high school diploma. It will unlock some new doors for you like new job opportunities, better income, a chance to get into college (possibly even on a scholarship), and more. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
However, there’s always one thing that goes around everyone’s head when they think of taking a GED test, and that – is it hard to pass?
Well, let’s find out.
What Is A GED?
GED stands for “General Educational Development”, and it represents a group of tests on four subjects. When passed, these tests provide you with a certification equivalent to a high school diploma.
The four subjects you will take tests on are:
- Math
- Science
- Social Studies
- RLA (Reasoning Through Language Arts)
How Much Does It Cost To Take The Test?
The cost for taking the tests varies from state to state, but the average fee is about $120, which is not a lot.
However, other things could affect the price like test preparation, study materials, private classes, etc. To be fair, you could get most, if not all, of these for free, but sometimes a helping hand from a tutor could prove to be beneficial.
How To Prepare For GED Test?
Before we can discuss how hard or easy the GED test is, we first must look at everything necessary to pass the test to make an accurate assessment.
The first out of three things we’ll be focusing on is preparation.
A key to any kind of success lies in preparation, and this is especially true when it comes to GEDs. So, let’s delve into what you can do and how you can prepare for a GED test.
Identify Key Areas
You may be very well-versed in one of the subjects you’ll be tested on but lacking knowledge in others, and it is vital that you become aware of that before you even start studying.
The reason why this is important is none other than time and resource management. If you excel at science but are really rusty with your math, there’s no need for you to study both of them equally.
Identify your strong and weak points on focus on them accordingly. It would be much wiser to spend more time practicing math than going over something you already know “just to make sure”. Focus on those areas that need improvement, and simply polish what you already know.
Enroll In A GED Study Program
If you’re not much of a solo learner, you should probably consider enrolling in a GED study program. There are several study programs that you can find online. In fact, our expert consultants on this article at learnalot.com offer one of those courses, so if that’s something you feel you might find helpful, feel free to check it out.
Most of these courses focus on the same things as…
- Step-by-step guidance
- Study groups
- Weekly schedules and live lessons
- Tutoring and coaching
…as well as some other things.
Take Practice Tests
As you can see above, practice tests are an integral part of GED study programs’ curriculum. What you can’t see above is that they’re essential for two reasons: identifying your strengths and weaknesses and tracking your progress.
We’ve mentioned earlier that you can prepare for a GED for free, and that’s true. You can go to your local library, find some practice tests, and do them before you even begin studying. That should help you assess your strengths and weaknesses.
On the other hand, as you keep progressing and learning, taking practice tests can help you see just how far you’ve come. Ace a few of these practice tests, and you can be pretty confident that you’ll easily pass the real thing.
Study Hard
The last thing you have to do is put in the effort and study hard. This won’t be a long journey, but it will be a decently hard one. However, with proper planning and several hours of studying daily, you should be ready in no time.
How Long Will It Take To Prepare For The GED Test?
This is another common question people ask, and the answer is – it depends.
It depends on a variety of factors, like free time, intelligence, or will to learn, but it mostly depends on which skills you already have and how much you already know. Building upon a solid base won’t take more than three months.
On the other hand, if you’re struggling to get anything right on those first practice tests – you might be looking at six months or more.
Keep in mind that these are just estimates and that no one can know for sure. For all we know, you could get a perfect score on your test with only a month’s worth of studying.
How Many Questions Can You Miss On The GED Test?
Now, the question everyone wants the answer to – how many questions can I get wrong and still pass?
Well, if we tell you that almost 80% of all test takers pass on the first try, you should get a pretty good idea of what it takes to pass this test, right?
If that’s still isn’t a good enough answer for you – here’s another one. You need 145 points (per section) to pass, which is the equivalent of getting 45% of the test right.
However, one point doesn’t equal one question, especially when it comes to the RLA, so you can’t quite say you can miss more than half the questions on the test, mainly because you need to pass each section (subject) separately.
Overall, you’ll need 580 out of 800 points to pass the GED test, but only if you get 145 on each section. Also, if your goal is to take college entrance tests (SAT or ACT) later on, you’ll need at least 165 or 175 points per section, depending on the college.
Conclusion – Is GED Test Hard To Pass?
So, what’s the final verdict – is the GED test hard to pass?
Well, as you can so obviously see – it is not. GED is easy to pass.
The passing rate is excellent, the bar for a passing grade is significantly lower than one in high school (percentage-wise), and it only takes a few months to learn everything you need to know to pass the test.
As far as we’re concerned, as long as you follow our preparation tips – you’ll ace the test with no problems whatsoever.
