(Didn’t know where to post) GED/ Attending community college.

Hello, my question for the forum is the following : If I take a pass the GED, (Im located in California), would I be able to after attend classes at a community college (I.E Santa Monica Community College)? Would it be nothing out of the ordinary? What challenges would I face if any? Also what about transferring to a University afterwards? Thank you.

What is your current education and location? If in California, they typically use the CHSPE, not the GED.

I’m a senior, at venice high school. I’ve been told it’ll be easier just to finish, but I’m behind a full chemistry class and half a biology class, and would prefer just to leave now.

Does your school participate in a dual enrollment program? It may make sense to take those classes at community college but use the credits to complete your high school diploma at the same time.

If that doesn’t work for you, talk to academic advising at the community college for information about their high school dropout programs. Some community colleges have free “second chance at a diploma” programs that you would lose eligibility for if you earn a GED diploma.

Find out about taking the missing classes in night school or the summer or next fall. I teach GED prep. The exams are not easy to pass. If a student is only a couple classes short, it is almost always better to just work out a way to get the missing credits and get the high school diploma.

Here is an example program for getting high school credit while attending community college

http://smc.edu/EnrollmentDevelopment/Admissions/HS-Concurrent-Program/Pages/About-the-Program.aspx

You’d take the classes at community college and then apply them to your high school transcript to graduate.

Another option for escaping a toxic high school is online classes. You can check with your guidance counselor about any online credits your high school would accept.

as someone from a nontraditional high school setting (online cyber charter) i second the online class idea to finish out your credits and be able to graduate. im not sure about the situation in california, but often high schools now cyber school branches of the public high school so a credit transfer would not be necessary, or you could look into an independent cyber-charter to finish out the remainder of HS. however, completing the classes requires a lot of self motivation and depending on the school there is often little to no guidance or instruction, sometimes you may be teaching yourself from the lesson plan basically. but it is worth looking into! good luck!!

Since you’re still currently in school why don’t you walk over and talk to your GC?

Check and make sure there’s no minimum age for the GED-- in some states you need to be a year or two out of high school.

the previous idea is a good one: Make an appointment with your guidance counselor. Today.

It’s entirely possible that you can graduate without the Chem and/or Bio classes.