Can I get a High School Diploma after getting my GED and Associates?

[rachel83az]

IReallyNeedADegree is German and wants to go to a European university. If there is anything worse than a GED in Europe, it's a homeschooler's diploma. Homeschooling is absolutely not a thing in Europe and is literally illegal in many countries.

[bjcheung77]

Ich bin verwirrt... IReallyNeedADegree, you need to have an action plan... Even if you're in a European country, you want to tell us exactly what the use of the high school diploma is for. It seems you're likely trying to go for another Bachelors degree in a European country? Well, what 'highly selective' universities are you contemplating on applying to? Have you decided to go for another Bachelors or a Masters will do? As I said, I re-read your previous two threads and I am still a bit confused.

[dfrecore]

IReallyNeedADegree is German and wants to go to a European university. If there is anything worse than a GED in Europe, it's a homeschooler's diploma. Homeschooling is absolutely not a thing in Europe and is literally illegal in many countries.

That was not in the post - they said they had a GED (American) and wanted to study abroad.  That to me does not scream that they're a German citizen.

Also, there is almost no way to tell if you have a homeschool diploma.  In CA, you have to name your school, and it becomes a private school, and you could call it anything you want, so you can make it sound as "legitimate" as you need.  Then, you can make your diploma and transcript look completely professional as well.  They're accepted in every state, and by every college, by law.

[rachel83az]

The German citizen part was clarified in other threads. Anything not Germany counts as abroad.

As far as homeschooled diplomas go, again, it is ridiculously illegal to be homeschooled in most European countries. Including Germany. If IReallyNeedADegree were to submit such a document to European schools, supposedly obtained whilst having been living in Germany, there could be legal ramifications for their parents, including fines and I don't know what else. This could have major ramifications for the parents' plan to live in the US for work for about a year.

DO NOT attempt to create a homeschool diploma!

[IReallyNeedADegree]

Not sure what the rules are in your state, but you could be a homeschooled student and give yourself a high school diploma.  Every state has rules, so you'd have to figure it out.  But it might be easy depending on where you live.

I am from germany not living in the US rn.

[IReallyNeedADegree]

IReallyNeedADegree is German and wants to go to a European university. If there is anything worse than a GED in Europe, it's a homeschooler's diploma. Homeschooling is absolutely not a thing in Europe and is literally illegal in many countries.

Ich bin verwirrt... IReallyNeedADegree, you need to have an action plan... Even if you're in a European country, you want to tell us exactly what the use of the high school diploma is for. It seems you're likely trying to go for another Bachelors degree in a European country? Well, what 'highly selective' universities are you contemplating on applying to? Have you decided to go for another Bachelors or a Masters will do? As I said, I re-read your previous two threads and I am still a bit confused.

Sorry for not answering to your messages, I have simply not seen them as this whole forum thing is new to me and to be honest I dont even know how to use it properly as I don't get a pop up or notification when someone answers to my threads or answers. I am sure that there must be such a feature but I am simply to blind to see it. Now to the answer: Yes homeschooling is illegal here in germany so thats not an option for me although I bet that if you are american they would accept it as long as you have the associates.


Now to my story and the plan I have that you guys asked about. In 2020 dropped out of german high school while being in 11th grade because I got extremely ill and therefore couldn't continue school, then the pandemic began, online schooling was a thing but I had to get treated so I essentially could forget going to school for that year. 2 years later my family decided to begin the relocation process to the US, meaning getting job offers, the visas needed and looking for a home. Meanwhile I tried going to school again in another school but didn't like it. I got Ill again and tried going to school again at another school as an 11th grader in 2022, I honestly disliked the thought that I lost 2 years and I will only get my Abitur (german high school diploma) in 3 YEARS. I knew I didn't want to waste my time sitting in class with kids that I honestly have nothing in common with as I am a little bit too old to understand their tiktok trends. I knew I had to find another way, and since we are moving to the US I thought I could ask family members that live in the US about my situation, they were the ones telling me that the GED is a thing.
Some months down the line I accidentally stumbled upon degree hacking because I researched degrees that have a good ROI as I was unsure whether or not to go for medicine, law, aviation or banking. I got a video recommendation on youtube and went down the degree hacking rabbit hole. After watching more and more videos I saw a comment about this forum and tried to find it which was kind of hard not going to lie.
Then I researched how I could quickly gain the ability to even enroll in college as I hadn't finished my education in germany and we could move anytime soon. I didnt want to waste more time so I took my GED. After taking it I heard that our relocation plans got delayed and we had to stay longer in germany at least til the end of 2023 and as I said earlier I didnt want to lose more time. I decided that business it my thing so I thought about going to college here in europe and maybe transfer when we move to the US. I researched good universities to land a good job in finance and figured out that one of the most important things in finance especially here in europe is where you went to University. Around then I figured that simply getting a degree fast isn't enough it needs to come from a well known, respected college since finance people are
elitists and to be honest it would be easier for me to break into the career field that I want here in germany and then just ask my employer to send me to an us office of them. So I researched what I need to be admitted to some good Universities here in Europe namely University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, University of Frankfurt, University of Munich, University of Zürich, Erasmus Rotterdam, Copenhagen Business School and Stockholm School of Economics. Most of them only accepted an official High School Diploma in combination with specific AP courses or a 2 years Associate of Arts or Sciences to be admitted. I was fine with that because after being Ill for so long and wasting my time and potential I wanted to shoot for the stars and atleast attend a top 40 University for my preferred majors (finance,business admin., economics). Many of them do not accept you for a bachelors if you already have one and to be honest I want the brick and mortar experience because being Ill was very lonely and I feel disconnected from people my age. Thats why I want to get the HSD and the AA/AS as fast as possible.
I want to make up some of the lost time and attend a top institution for my bachelor, I networked pretty hard and through sheer luck I managed to find a mentor that taught me as long as my profile is impressive enough getting a masters would just mean that I lose out on valuable time.

[dfrecore]

The German citizen part was clarified in other threads. Anything not Germany counts as abroad.

As far as homeschooled diplomas go, again, it is ridiculously illegal to be homeschooled in most European countries. Including Germany. If IReallyNeedADegree were to submit such a document to European schools, supposedly obtained whilst having been living in Germany, there could be legal ramifications for their parents, including fines and I don't know what else. This could have major ramifications for the parents' plan to live in the US for work for about a year.

DO NOT attempt to create a homeschool diploma!

Since I was only going by this particular thread, I'm just going with what I read here.

I did not mean that a non-US citizen should create a homeschool diploma, I meant that a US Citizen might be able to create one.  Obviously, you can't have a US homeschool diploma if you're not a US citizen (and that goes without saying).  Of COURSE you should not do something that is illegal in your country - DUH!

Now, I'd also like to say that if you create a thread here, you should not assume that someone has read every other thread you've ever written, and knows your life story.  You should really assume that they ONLY are reading this thread, and they only have as much info as you put in THIS thread.  I only read and am commenting on THIS thread, and am assuming that a person getting their GED because they did not graduate from high school IN THE US because that's all I can really glean HERE IN THIS THREAD.  It would not occur to most people here in the US that someone from a foreign country is going to get their GED here in the US, because that would not make a lot of sense.  But to act as if I'm deficient in some way because I don't automatically know that this is not a US citizen is kind of strange.

[IReallyNeedADegree]

The German citizen part was clarified in other threads. Anything not Germany counts as abroad.

As far as homeschooled diplomas go, again, it is ridiculously illegal to be homeschooled in most European countries. Including Germany. If IReallyNeedADegree were to submit such a document to European schools, supposedly obtained whilst having been living in Germany, there could be legal ramifications for their parents, including fines and I don't know what else. This could have major ramifications for the parents' plan to live in the US for work for about a year.

DO NOT attempt to create a homeschool diploma!

Since I was only going by this particular thread, I'm just going with what I read here.

I did not mean that a non-US citizen should create a homeschool diploma, I meant that a US Citizen might be able to create one.  Obviously, you can't have a US homeschool diploma if you're not a US citizen (and that goes without saying).  Of COURSE you should not do something that is illegal in your country - DUH!

Now, I'd also like to say that if you create a thread here, you should not assume that someone has read every other thread you've ever written, and knows your life story.  You should really assume that they ONLY are reading this thread, and they only have as much info as you put in THIS thread.  I only read and am commenting on THIS thread, and am assuming that a person getting their GED because they did not graduate from high school IN THE US because that's all I can really glean HERE IN THIS THREAD.  It would not occur to most people here in the US that someone from a foreign country is going to get their GED here in the US, because that would not make a lot of sense.  But to act as if I'm deficient in some way because I don't automatically know that this is not a US citizen is kind of strange.

To be honest I caused the whole confusion here by not adding all the necessary information needed. So this one is on me and nobody should feel offended just because I messed up. But yeah my academic path is very unorthodox.

[rachel83az]

Since I was only going by this particular thread, I'm just going with what I read here.

I did not mean that a non-US citizen should create a homeschool diploma, I meant that a US Citizen might be able to create one.  Obviously, you can't have a US homeschool diploma if you're not a US citizen (and that goes without saying).  Of COURSE you should not do something that is illegal in your country - DUH!

Yet, you doubled down when I mentioned that IReallyNeedADegree is not American - reiterating your suggestion to make up a diploma.

Now, I'd also like to say that if you create a thread here, you should not assume that someone has read every other thread you've ever written, and knows your life story.  You should really assume that they ONLY are reading this thread, and they only have as much info as you put in THIS thread.  I only read and am commenting on THIS thread, and am assuming that a person getting their GED because they did not graduate from high school IN THE US because that's all I can really glean HERE IN THIS THREAD.  It would not occur to most people here in the US that someone from a foreign country is going to get their GED here in the US, because that would not make a lot of sense.  But to act as if I'm deficient in some way because I don't automatically know that this is not a US citizen is kind of strange.

I don't know if it's because you've had a long week at work or what, but you did post twice suggesting that IReallyNeedADegree should just make up a homeschool diploma.

Even if IReallyNeedADegree were American, making up a homeschool diploma is really terrible advice for someone who wants to study in not-America (abroad). I would have to double-check to be sure, but I think that the US is the only (First World) country that has both compulsory schooling and allows homeschooling. Trying to get into an international university with a homeschooling diploma is, at best, going to be difficult. It's more likely akin to asking the student to ride to the moon on a bicycle. It's not happening.

GEDs have more acceptance, but they're still of dubious merit to someone who wants to continue their education in Europe. For Americans, Anabin (Germany) does NOT recognize a GED as anything but eligibility to complete the final 2 years of German high school at Gymnasium. A 100% legit HS diploma from an in-person school might be allowed to enter a German university, but possibly not. A better course of action is usually the one that IReallyNeedADegree is attempting: 1-2 years of American university, then transfer to a European one.

---

@IReallyNeedADegree, I would double-check with the universities that you want to attend. From my research, you shouldn't even need an AA or a HS diploma. You just need a GED (which you have) plus 1-2 years of American university credits. You may "lose" about a year, though, depending on the school and its policies. I.E., transferring to another American university with 60 RA credits should put you at the beginning of the 3rd year of a 4-year degree. In Europe, you might have to start at the very beginning of the first year or maybe in year two.

European universities (and most American ones) do not allow you to move quickly.

I don't suppose you also speak Italian? If you did, the Roman university has a couple of Bachelor's degrees (laurea triennale) in Business. I think you can do them online. https://www.international.unitelmasapien...cs-italian

Another possible suggestion, though I admit that it's weird and may not work:

1. Sign up for a Business Bachelor's degree in the US from TESU. Use free XAMK credits and maybe some ASU Universal Learner credits to prove eligibility, despite your age.
   
2. Transfer in everything you can from Sophia. All the business courses you can, plus the courses with 2 or fewer Touchstones. You should have ~100 US credits. 
   
3. Take your TESU enrollment as eligibility proof and go over to ENEB. Obtain at least one of their Master's. 
   
4. Titulo propios do not count as degrees in the academic world - so take those ECTS (and the XAMK/ASU credits, if any) and use them as proof of being eligible for studies at the university of your choice.
   

[IReallyNeedADegree]

Since I was only going by this particular thread, I'm just going with what I read here.

I did not mean that a non-US citizen should create a homeschool diploma, I meant that a US Citizen might be able to create one.  Obviously, you can't have a US homeschool diploma if you're not a US citizen (and that goes without saying).  Of COURSE you should not do something that is illegal in your country - DUH!

Yet, you doubled down when I mentioned that IReallyNeedADegree is not American - reiterating your suggestion to make up a diploma.

Now, I'd also like to say that if you create a thread here, you should not assume that someone has read every other thread you've ever written, and knows your life story.  You should really assume that they ONLY are reading this thread, and they only have as much info as you put in THIS thread.  I only read and am commenting on THIS thread, and am assuming that a person getting their GED because they did not graduate from high school IN THE US because that's all I can really glean HERE IN THIS THREAD.  It would not occur to most people here in the US that someone from a foreign country is going to get their GED here in the US, because that would not make a lot of sense.  But to act as if I'm deficient in some way because I don't automatically know that this is not a US citizen is kind of strange.

I don't know if it's because you've had a long week at work or what, but you did post twice suggesting that IReallyNeedADegree should just make up a homeschool diploma.

Even if IReallyNeedADegree were American, making up a homeschool diploma is really terrible advice for someone who wants to study in not-America (abroad). I would have to double-check to be sure, but I think that the US is the only (First World) country that has both compulsory schooling and allows homeschooling. Trying to get into an international university with a homeschooling diploma is, at best, going to be difficult. It's more likely akin to asking the student to ride to the moon on a bicycle. It's not happening.

GEDs have more acceptance, but they're still of dubious merit to someone who wants to continue their education in Europe. For Americans, Anabin (Germany) does NOT recognize a GED as anything but eligibility to complete the final 2 years of German high school at Gymnasium. A 100% legit HS diploma from an in-person school might be allowed to enter a German university, but possibly not. A better course of action is usually the one that IReallyNeedADegree is attempting: 1-2 years of American university, then transfer to a European one.

---

@IReallyNeedADegree, I would double-check with the universities that you want to attend. From my research, you shouldn't even need an AA or a HS diploma. You just need a GED (which you have) plus 1-2 years of American university credits. You may "lose" about a year, though, depending on the school and its policies. I.E., transferring to another American university with 60 RA credits should put you at the beginning of the 3rd year of a 4-year degree. In Europe, you might have to start at the very beginning of the first year or maybe in year two.

European universities (and most American ones) do not allow you to move quickly.

I don't suppose you also speak Italian? If you did, the Roman university has a couple of Bachelor's degrees (laurea triennale) in Business. I think you can do them online. https://www.international.unitelmasapien...cs-italian

Another possible suggestion, though I admit that it's weird and may not work:

1. Sign up for a Business Bachelor's degree in the US from TESU. Use free XAMK credits and maybe some ASU Universal Learner credits to prove eligibility, despite your age.
   
2. Transfer in everything you can from Sophia. All the business courses you can, plus the courses with 2 or fewer Touchstones. You should have ~100 US credits. 
   
3. Take your TESU enrollment as eligibility proof and go over to ENEB. Obtain at least one of their Master's. 
   
4. Titulo propios do not count as degrees in the academic world - so take those ECTS (and the XAMK/ASU credits, if any) and use them as proof of being eligible for studies at the university of your choice.
   

wow thats actually a good idea! I will look into it. I found out that denmark is one of the only EU countries that accepts the GED without needing an Associates or AP exams so thats a good plan B because the Copenhagen Business School is also one of the universities that are good for my case. Also the Sapienza programme is something interesting. I have to think about it. The problem is that my preferred choices are in switzerland germany and netherlands and for switzerland and germany I know I cant trick the system like that because they are very strict on their requirements. I am also talking to IUHS and UNHS admissions officers right now and as far as I can assess the situation this far I could get my high school diploma in under 6 months while working on the associates which seems to be good tbh.