The GED Social Studies test is primarily an assessment of reading comprehension and data analysis. You don’t need to study economics or American history to pass this exam. However, there are a few things you can do ahead of time to maximize your score. Follow our advice, and you’ll have the GED Social Studies test in your rear view mirror in no time!
- Register at ged.com. This is the first crucial step to getting officially signed up for your exam date and time. On the website, you can find test locations, fees, and policies for your specific testing area.
- Take an official GED Ready practice test. These inexpensive practice tests are made out of old questions from the real exam, so they cover the same formats and content areas. They are half the length, though, so you can knock one out in a half-hour or so.
- Read as much as possible every single day. Reading comprehension is key on this test. You don’t need to memorize facts, but you do need to be familiar with the types of passages you’ll see on the exam. The more you read high-quality texts on social studies topics like history, economics, and political science, the better prepared you’ll be.
- Think about the types of questions that appear on the exam. You’ll encounter multiple-choice, drag-and-drop, fill-in-the-blank, select-an-area, and drop-down questions. Familiarizing yourself with these formats prevents any surprises.
- Don’t worry about memorizing every specific vocabulary term and definition. While you should understand common social studies concepts, the test focuses more on your comprehension of the main ideas presented in passages.
- Know how to interpret and analyze different kinds of graphs, charts, and maps. Close to to half of the questions on the GED Social Studies test are based on graphics, including photos and political cartoons.
- Answer the easy questions, flag the hard ones. You can move forward and back through the questions on the GED, so don’t waste your time if you’re stuck on a particular question. Remember, you don’t have to get all the answers right to pass the test!
- Learn to recognize potential biases, perspectives, or agendas in written passages. Where is the author coming from? What are his or her motivations? Keep these questions in mind as you read.
- Learn to distinguish fact from opinion. Political argument is always a mishmash of truth and propaganda, and the GED Social Studies test always asks you to tell the difference.
- Learn basic statistics. The test usually includes a few questions on basic stats concepts like mean, median, range, and mode. If you know how to find these values when presented with a data set, these questions should be a breeze.
Click here for all of our free GED Social Studies resources.
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