I have had some pretty bad health problems that I could not attend school with, I dropped out and switched to home school when the opptions that public school gave me ment that I wouldn’t be able to graduate, but I fell behind in homeschool, so my mom wants me to get my GED, but I need to know if that will lower my scholarship opptions, and how sugnificantly it will lower them.
If you dropped out of traditional school and are struggling to keep up with homeschool, a GED might be a great option. You could take the time to improve your health, perhaps start at a community college and transfer. We know a few kids that went this route for health reasons. A GED would allow you to start community college in the fall even. Yes, there are generally less scholarship for transfers but without a good transcript, it’ll be hard to get scholarships anyway. Plus, you’d knock off 2 years of university costs.
I teach GED prep and I don’t recommend it for anyone who has the option of getting a regular public school diploma in their state. The test series is not easy, and working your way through the prep materials could well take as much time and self-discipline as completing a year of classes. How many credits are you missing? What classes are you specifically missing? Evaluate your coursework that way. It may make best sense for you to just pick up the classes you have left.
Even if you do complete the GED, most colleges and universities will also require you to submit your high school transcripts when you apply. For merit-based aid, you need very good grades and SAT/ACT scores. So again it makes sense to finish high school if you can get those good grades.
If you have health problems, your school district should provide you with home and hospital instruction that will get you through the minimum state high school curriculum. Is that the program you are in now, or is your mother home schooling you on her own? Remember, there is no specific requirement that you have to finish high school by a certain time. If you are in public schools, and need to take a slower pace because of your health, your school district is most likely required to allow you to stay in high school until the end of the year in which you turn 21. I know one school district that has allowed students who are on track to finish to stay even longer than that.