My test scores are back on the internet by 'popular demand'. Apparently some of you people out in internet land have been looking for them... The internet is a strange place ;)

How the GED test is scored
    First it is important to understand how the GED is scored, all related information to this has been taken from http://www.gedontv.org/FAQ.htm. The GED test is composed of scores on five individual tests, each one focused on a specific category. These categories are as follows:
• Language Arts - Writing
• Social Studies
• Science
• Language Arts - Reading
• Mathematics
On each subject you recieve a grade in the form of a number between 200 and 800, where 200 is complete failure, and 800 is a perfect score. In order to pass you must harness a minimum of 410 points on each subject.
    Here's where the fun begins. The following is a table which puts the 200-800 score into a percentile which compares the score to the academic skills of High School Graduates. So for example, if a score is in the top 5%, it means that it is on par with the academic skills of the top 5% of high school graduates world wide.

Minimum Score	Top Percentile
640	Top 5%
620	Top 10%
580	Top 20%
570	Top 25%
540	Top Third
530	Top 40%
500	Top Half
480	Top 60%
460	Top Two-Thirds
450	Top 70%

How I did on the GED test

Subect	Score	Top Percentile
Language Arts - Writing	650	Top 5%
Social Studies	800 perfect	Top 5% (Perfect Score)
Science	760	Top 5%
Language Arts - Reading	700	Top 5%
Math*	540	Top 33%
TOTAL SCORE	3450	unavailable

*I would just like to make an excuse for myself about the math score if I may. This is a direct result of not studying. I know exactly which questions I failed, and they were all trigonometry questions which I did not know the Formulas too. I had to guess, apparently my guesses were not good enough :)



Reasons the GED should not be looked down upon
    Upon successfully completing the GED tests, I would like to share with you what the diploma you receive says:

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The University of the State of New York Education Department
Be it known that
Patrick A Avella
having satisfactorily completed the requirements prescribed by
the Commissioner of Education is thereby entitled to this
High School Equivalency Diploma
In Witness Whereof the Regents issue this diploma
under seal of the University at Albany in
August 2003

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    Now, I understand that this may not be enough "Proof" for someone to believe that the GED is to be held in the same regards as a high school diploma, so for further evidence I would like to include the following passage taken from http://www.gedontv.org/FAQ.htm which is the official website of a government run program to run GED test preparation programs on public access television. Here is what they wrote:

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Your transcript contains two sets of numbers: standard scores and percentile ranks. The standard scores make it possible to compare scores across tests and test forms. This is necessary because some tests contain more questions than others and there are multiple, equally difficult forms of the test in circulation.
The percentile rank makes it possible to compare your performance on each one of the tests with the performance of graduating high school seniors. The higher the percentile rank, the better your performance.
Example: Kelly's average standard score after completing all five of the GED Tests is 570. The percentile rank for that score is 77. The percentile rank, "77" means that Kelly has outperformed 77 out of 100 graduating high school seniors. Such a score places Kelly in the top 25% (100-77=23) of graduating U.S. high school seniors in terms of her general academic skills and knowledge.

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I would specifically like to point out the last paragraph which states quite clearly: The percentile rank, "77" means that Kelly has outperformed 77 out of 100 graduating high school seniors.. I really think that should say a lot. I'm not being compared to other people who took the GED test, my scores are being compared to actual high school graduates.