# Could a high school grad from the 70's pass a GED test today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396 "2016-10-22T21:01:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/1 "2016-10-22T21:01:32Z")
Need answer fast! ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/2 "2016-10-22T23:16:03Z")
I’m quite sure some could. Those that are high school teachers right now would probably have a very good chance. I don’t know if you need one overall score or must pass each of several subjects. The latter would be a bit harder. I’m pretty sure I could though I don’t quite qualify having graduated high school in 1967. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/3 "2016-10-22T23:40:01Z")
What are the subjects on the GED? English and history, probably no problem, except it would be heavy on questions about modern minority writers, whom they might not be familiar with. Math would require a lot of brushing up, since HS math is never used in the real world. (Laymen get by in middle school math, and researchers on college math.) Science is all new, and people now know nothing about computer science except what they need to know at their daily keyboard. The questions are mostly selected with a heavy emphasis on those things that are rote memorized in the school curriculum, so few adults would even understand the language used in the questions without some preparation. I doubt if many school teachers who graduated in 2006 would be able to just walk in off the street and pass it. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/4 "2016-10-23T00:00:51Z")
modern minority writers? The maths are Frightening. Yes, I’m testing for GED. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/5 "2016-10-23T00:11:36Z")
Why would a high school graduate need to take the GED? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/6 "2016-10-23T00:20:14Z")
It would depend entirely on whether the student paid attention in school the first time around. Most folks didn’t, and so end up complaining when their kids ask for help on exactly the same sort of homework that they did, that everything’s different now and that they never learned that. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/7 "2016-10-23T00:22:44Z")
Because 36 years later the Microfiche is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/8 "2016-10-23T00:41:38Z")
Not asking for homework answers. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/9 "2016-10-23T00:47:02Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > Because 36 years later the Microfiche is gone. So if I understand you correctly, even though you graduated from high school in 1980, you now can’t prove that you did and plan to take the GED in lieu of that? Honestly, I think most people would accept that someone in their 50s was a high school graduate. What are you doing that requires you to prove it? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/10 "2016-10-23T00:50:48Z")
IIRC I took the SAT in 1975. So far as I recall none of the questions on the general SAT required cutting edge scientific knowledge. It was focused on basic science knowledge, reading comprehension, logic, vocabulary, problem solving and I think some history questions. Unless the modern test is very different a smart 1970’s grad should do OK other than questions about current historical events. . ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/11 "2016-10-23T00:53:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It would depend entirely on whether the student paid attention in school the first time around. Most folks didn’t, and so end up complaining when their kids ask for help on exactly the same sort of homework that they did, that everything’s different now and that they never learned that. Chronos… I’d rather be one of Feynman’s kids who have no clue than to listen to you. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/12 "2016-10-23T02:41:14Z")
I actually have a friend who’s a school counselor and took the GED test “for fun” (yeah, he needs to get a hobby and up his definition of “fun”). He’d graduated HS thirty years before. He refused to tell us how he did, but claimed he passed it, without any special reviewing or studying. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/13 "2016-10-23T04:07:53Z")
Here’s a sample online test. Try it and see. > **[Free GED Sample Test Online for Adults | GED®](https://ged.com/study/free_online_ged_test/)** > > Take a free GED test preview online, written by the creators of the official GED exam. Improve your knowledge of all four test subjects, completely free. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/14 "2016-10-23T17:36:35Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > Chronos… I’d rather be one of Feynman’s kids who have no clue than to listen to you. **Moderator Note** **Claude Remains** , this kind of remark is inappropriate for GQ. No warning issued, but don’t do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/15 "2016-10-23T18:05:13Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > Because 36 years later the Microfiche is gone. I’m not clear on how any job is requiring documented proof of a man in his 50’s that he graduated from high school as a condition of employment but the world is a strange place. This says you can use transcripts as an alternative. [How to Get a Copy of Your High School Diploma: 2 Scenarios](http://blog.prepscholar.com/how-to-get-a-copy-of-high-school-diploma) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/16 "2016-10-24T01:02:15Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Here’s a sample online test. Try it and see. > [http://www.gedtestingservice.com/educators/freepracticetest](http://www.gedtestingservice.com/educators/freepracticetest) FWIW … I just took the “free” test, and there was no question I couldn’t answer, with confidence that my answers were correct. I graduated from HS over 50 years ago. It’s mostly about reading comprehension and reasoning skills. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-high-school-grad-from-the-70s-pass-a-ged-test-today/769396/17 "2016-10-24T01:59:38Z")
I’m closing this at the request of the OP.