If you've decided that you want to take the GED exams to get your high school equivalency
credential but you're not sure how long it will take, there's a couple things you need
to consider.
In this video I'll explain how you can figure out how much time you need to study before
you can pass the GED exams.
There are two important factors to consider when you're planning out your study time for
the GED.
Number one: what is your current level of skill?
And number two: what are your goals for after you get your GED?
The passing score for each of the four GED subject exams is 145.
If you score 145 you pass the exam, and your score will count toward your high school equivalency
credential.
However, the possible range of scores is between 100 and 200, so 145 isn't even halfway through
the range.
That's because you can pass the GED exams at a couple of different levels.
The GED testing service explains it like this: 145 is a passing score.
That is enough to get your high school equivalency credential.
But if you earn a score between 165 and 174, you're considered college ready.
This means that you probably have the skills to take college level courses without taking
any remedial courses first.
Depending on the college program, this score might be considered in lieu of a math or a
reading placement test.
The GED testing service claims that this can help you get your college degree faster, and
save you time and money.
That's an interesting claim that maybe reveals something that is unstated about the 145 passing
score.
Even though 145 is a passing score and it is possible to go to college if you pass the
GED, if you're not scoring at least 165, you can expect to have to take remedial classes
when you do got to college.
That means that you do not currently have the level of skills that you would need to
be successful in college level courses.
There's nothing wrong with taking a remedial course, but they don't usually earn you college
credits.
So that means, the more remedial classes you have to take, the long it's going to take
you to get your degree and the more expensive it's going to be.
So, don't get confused.
A passing score on the GED does not indicate that you are ready to go to college.
The actual college ready score is 165 or higher.
If you can score 175 or higher, that's considered College Ready +.
That means that some college programs may agree to exempt you from intro level credit
bearing courses and award you those courses for your GED score.
Similar to if you got a certain score on an SAT subject or AP test.
Not every college participates in this program though, so if you're interested in pursuing
it I would make sure you talk to someone in the admissions department at the college you're
hoping to go to to make sure that they would accept those credits for you.
What does all this mean for how we're going to make our study plan?
Remember that I mentioned that you need to consider two things: your current level of
skill and what you hope to do with your GED once you pass.
If you're hoping that getting your high school equivalency credential will help you to get
a better job or to enroll in a training program that requires a high school diploma, the 145
passing score might be enough.
However, if you're hoping to attend college after you pass, if might be wise to put in
the time and effort to get a higher score.
Not only to make a case that you are a better applicant to a college admissions department,
but to actually develop the skills that you would need to be successful as a college student.
This is true even if you're planning to go to community college and you're not worried
about the admissions process.
It's a good idea to work on your skills as much as you can with free and cheap resources
before you go to college and have to pay for those credits.
Especially when some of those remedial credits won't even count toward your graduation requirements.
Check out this video up here for some ideas about free and cheap practice that you might
be able to use when studying for the GED.
The big range of passing scores also just means that there are a lot of questions on
the test that you do not have to get right to pass the test.
The only way for there to be such a broad range of scores that are acceptable is for
there to be quite a few questions at the top end of difficulty on the test that most people
are not going to get right.
This is important for you to remember when you're studying for the test, and when you
go to take the test.
Even if you encounter some questions on the test that you have no idea how to answer,
you still might pass.
And you don't have to master all of the skills that are test in order to pass, although you
might want to depending on what your goal is in the future.
But regardless of what your next goal is, how long it's going to take you to study to
pass this test depends on what your current level of skill is.
There are a lot of different reasons that people leave high school without a diploma.
And depending on what that reason was for you, how long you were in school, how long
it's been since you left, how well you did when you were in school, all of those things
are going to impact what your current level of skill is now.
Some people have a level of skill where they can go take the test tomorrow and get a 145.
Depending on their goal, they might be happy with that score, in which case they wouldn't
have to study at all.
That same person might have a goal to go to college, in which case, they might want to
take a few months to bump up their score and their skill to that 165 level.
Another person might not yet have the skill level to pass the exam, and they might have
to take the same amount or even longer than that other person just to get a passing score.
The amount of total time studying that you'll need to reach whatever score you want is also
going to depend on how much actual time you spend week to week studying, as well as your
strategy studying.
You might think that you've been studying for months and months, but if you're not being
consistent with your studying or if you're using study methods that are not effective,
all that time that has passed hasn't really got you any closer to passing.
With all that in mind, the first step to make a study plan to pass the GED exams should
be to take the GED Ready practice test for each of the four subjects.
Then you can look at the score report to see how you're likely to do on the actual exams.
If you're scoring in the area that you'd like to for each of the exams, you might be able
to schedule those and take them as soon as possible.
If you'd like to see some improvement in the scores that you're getting, either because
you're not yet in the passing range or because you'd like to score at a higher level, there
are a couple of options that you could take when crafting your study plan.
The first and possibly the quickest strategy is to take the list of scores that your GED
Ready score report says you need to improve and just work on those.
The report actually gives you the option to pick what test prep manual you're using, I'll
put my recommendation down below, and it'll tell you exactly what pages you need to go
to work on the skills that it thinks you should improve to pass the test.
So then you can just take, say if there are nine skills that it says for you to work on,
and divide those between a period of time, maybe three weeks, and work on three skills
a week.
I would also suggest going beyond what is provided in the test prep manual and using
some other practice materials during that time, like Khan Academy of Read Theory.
Even if you're trying to pass as quickly as possible, it's better to give yourself some
time to practice those skills with sleep in between.
That really helps to give your brain an opportunity to get a handle on the new information.
I think it's really helpful to remember that even if you're trying to do this quickly,
you may have missed years of instruction.
That doesn't mean that you won't be able to practice and improve your skills, but it does
mean that you might need more than a few weeks of practice to do so.
The other strategy that you could use is to simply work through all of the practice material
in whatever test prep book you're going to use.
The benefit of doing this is that you are going to touch on all the skills that are
tested, not just the ones that you did the worst on on the practice test.
As we discussed, there's a lot of room to grow in all the skills, especially if you're
not yet reaching a passing score.
It might actually be easier for you to improve a skill that you already have some mastery
in than a skill that you're really just not getting yet.
Either or both would improve your score.
In addition to that you can schedule in some practice with some of the other resources
I've mentioned.
That can help you get a lot of exposure to the practice and information that might be
helpful to you.
You could do the same thing with this strategy as we talked about with the other one.
Look at the table of contents, see how many lessons there are, and decide how many lessons
you think you might be able to do in a week.
Then you can plot it out on a calendar and see how long it might take you to study for
each subject.
Here you want to be realistic with yourself and not be too rigid about your dates so that
you can still stay on track even if other things come up.
If a few weeks go by and you are not consistently sticking with your study plan, you're going
to need to make some adjustments to make sure that it works for you.
The most important thing for you to remember is that every person is different.
How long it's going to take you to get ready to take and pass the GED exams is going to
depend on a lot of different factors.
Some of those factors are in your control right now, like how you use the available
time that you have to prepare for this exam.
Other's aren't in your control, like the difficulty of the material and your baseline level of
skill.
Give yourself the time that you need to be successful, and don't worry so much about
how long or how short it takes somebody else.
And if you feel like you've been working for a long time and getting nowhere, it might
be time to change up your strategy.
I make videos about effective study strategies and passing the GED here every Monday, so
please subscribe if you want to learn more about improving your skills and getting your
high school equivalency credential.
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other people need support and you can watch this next video for more information about
how to get started with the GED prep process.
Happy studying, and I'll see you next time.