Question about admission requirements

I would like to attend a training school and I have heard that it is bad to contract with a carrier company that locks you into a contract working with them for X amount of time, however, I am worried about some of the qualifications these companies and training schools require to even be accepted as a trainee. I will be honest, my education ended in the 10th grade and I didn't pay much attention in those 10 years for a number of different reasons-some my fault and some not. I attended high school when just about everyone passed and moved up a grade regardless if they actually possessed the requisite skills to qualify them for that grade or not. So...I have visited several training schools and carriers websites to see what their requirements are for admission and they all seem to require at the very least a high school diploma/GED or what they call an "Ability to Benefit Test" which looks to be a low grade math test.

I don't consider myself to be dumb but when it comes to math I would have to say I pretty much am. I'm not a complete Neanderthal though, I know my basic arithmetic but beyond that I am not very competent.

So I guess my main question is, If only the most egregious companies hire without requiring an HS diploma/GED or ABT then my only option is going to be to go with them. I have never been to any training schools or company schools yet, do you know if even the worst of the companies require academic aptitude tests too? I have checked out Swift's website and their admission qualifications don't make any mention of any kind of tests. I would just hate to get to their training facility and have them pop a test on me.

 

Thanks beezle, I want to be honest and up front with companies as I know this is a big thing as far as they are concerned but I think if I admitted the truth, that I
have no HS diploma or GED that that would be reason enough to not hire me. I really regret not finishing high school too. If I were to lie I might get away with it and be just fine. On the other hand it could come back to haunt me at a later time. I know you can be a perfect employee and bust your arse for a year, two years, five years and then one day you get a call to come in and talk to your boss.

 

I certainly have given it a thought from time to time and I can understand why people ask 'why not just take the test?' Well, I did buy a GED study guide and I'm really good at most of the subjects such as history and geography but my math is not quite up to snuff. I'm one of those people that just doesn't click with numbers for some reason.

For example, I know my arithmetic just fine. I can recite my times tables no problem. Add, subtract and divide. I even know long division and can do percentages pretty well but when it comes to algebra and calculus I am utterly hopeless. I realize the GED is not chock-full of algebra or calculus but there are math problems and science problems that are sufficiently difficult enough for me that I doubt I would pass. I also realize that nothing is for free and rewards don't come without putting out the effort. I suppose the idea of taking this test bores the hell out of me and I am also skeptical whether I'd pass it or not. I know it would take a lot of studying. I'm sure if I took it multiple times I would eventually pass but I would much rather avoid it all together. I know, I know-that doesn't make much sense.