A GED credential is not only one of your best means for career advancement, it also brings a sense of self-fulfillment, once you realize that it paves the way for higher salaries and a viable chance at a college education. The state of Maine offers the GED exam to qualified applicants; here’s how you may vie for it.

The GED exam has five subsections all in all, each of which focuses on an area of study familiar to high school students. Science, Mathematics, and Social Studies are included, as well as the Reading and Writing sections of the Language Arts; the majority of items in the entire test follow a multiple choice format, except for a subsection in the Language Arts (Writing) wherein you are required to make a brief essay within forty-five minutes. The Math section also has multiple choices, but the second part prohibits the use of calculators in computations. All in all, you’re given a time limit of seven and a half hours to get through the exam.

The state’s Department of Education prescribes the standard passing score for the exam (the same for all states throughout the country): a minimum of 410 for each section, and a total average of 450. If you fail to meet any of the minimum passing scores, the state of Maine generally does not require you to wait for a certain period to lapse before you can retake the exam (either in parts or as a total retest); however, testing sites observe their own regulations, and restrictions vary between them as well.

The state’s Dept. of Education online site (maine.gov/education) prescribes several requirements concerning your eligibility to take the test. At the very least, you have to be eighteen years old upon registration (or on the exam date); non-Maine residents can also apply, although the testing fees which they should place can be higher. The age requirement can be waived as well for special situations; contact your local testing site for detailed information on exceptions and additional prerequisites which applies to your case.

The same website provided above has a thorough list of all the test sites which are located across the state; you need to make a personal appearance at a testing site in order to register (this should also be the same site where you plan to take the test). Maine residents enjoy the privilege of taking the exam at absolutely no cost.

Independently preparing for the upcoming test is ideal only if you do not have the time to take prep courses (due to schedule restrictions), or if you are perfectly comfortable with reviewing in this way. You also have to be self-motivated enough to push through the preparation until the exam date. There are plenty of study aids which you can employ for this purpose, available at a library or bookstore within your community. You can also take online courses if you want more structure in your preparation. Otherwise, the best method is to sign up for prep courses which are offered within your community schools, or at the testing sites you registered with.