Our Ranking of Popular GED Holders

Christina Applegate is an actress, dancer, and producer born in Los Angeles, California. Her parents separated after her birth. With her folks being an actress and a record producer, the acting bug bit Christina Applegate early. She dropped out of high school and quickly landed her famed role as Kelly Bundy on "Married with kids." She took her GED throughout her junior year in high school and passed with flying colors.

Nickolas Gene Carter is a musician, singer, and actor; he was born in Jamestown, New York. He got his fame as a member of the vocal group the Backstreet Boys. When Carter was four, the family moved to Florida and began his career early; Nick did several commercials. At 12 years old, he auditioned for Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club and the Backstreet Boys. He did not get chosen right away to be a part of the Backstreet Boys because his mom wanted him to join The Mickey Mouse Club to stay in school. Her mom didn't know; her son got bullied at junior high schools for taking time off class for auditions and acting assignments to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. He was scared, hurt, and confused by his jealous classmates that he left and chose to be homeschooled. A week after, he was asked to join The Mickey Mouse Club with a $50,000 contract or this new music group. Nick decided to join Backstreet Boys; The Mickey Mouse Club got canceled after a few years. He had his tutor on tour with the group. Nick has received his GED in 2013 or 2014, as shown on I Heart Nick Carter.

Although Michael was about to graduate from high school, he was determined to go to Hollywood, California, to pursue his career. Michael decided to leave after his eighteenth birthday; however, before graduating from high school (Michael didn't receive his General Equivalency certificate till 1995.) His father drove him to L. A and gave him $3,000 to get started. Michael went to high school in his native hometown but never finished. When he got married, had kids, and was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, earning his GED become his priority. Fifteen years after quitting high school, Fox went back and got his GED.

Eminem studied at Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan, where he failed the 10th-grade multiple times and quit at 17 years old. Regardless of being a poor student, Eminem consistently had a profound partiality for language, reading comic books, and even the dictionary.

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, aka Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television judge born in Santa Barbara, California. Before she became famous, she was a Christian music singer who dropped out of high school at 15 to pursue her dream. Despite her success -- and studio albums -- she regrets dropping out and later got her GED.

Leonardo DiCaprio dropped out of high school after his junior year and eventually earned his GED years later. He'd already begun acting in minor roles and commercials at the time, then moving on to more iconic films. While he likes to attend college, it never actually happened, and now he's said, according to People, that "life is my college."

Aubrey Drake Graham is a rapper, songwriter, actor, and entrepreneur. He was born on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Ontario. In his younger days, he attended a Jewish day school and became a bar mitzvah. He attended Forest Hill Collegiate Institute. He also studied at Vaughan Road Academy in the city's multicultural Oakwood–Vaughan neighborhood. Drake got bullied at school for his racial and religious background, and upon realizing that his busy class schedule was detrimental to his blossoming acting career, Drake dropped out of school. He later graduated in October 2012. He has passed his GED exam ten years after dropping out of school at age 15 to join other casts of "Degrassi: The Next Generation."

Robert Downey Jr. is an actor and producer; he was born in Manhattan, New York City. He had success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal issues. As a child, Downey was "surrounded by drugs." His father, a drug addict, allowed Downey to use marijuana at age six, an incident which his father later said he regretted He never graduated from high school but instead earned his GED in prison.

Beyoncé attended the high school for the Performing and Visual Arts of Houston, Texas. She continued to sharpen her musical skills before transferring to the Alief Elsik high school, the last school she attended. What happened next remains a bit foggy. Some report says that she got her diploma while in high school other sources say that she eventually got her GED. At a similar time that she's still in high school, Beyoncé and Destiny's Child started gaining popularity.

He quit high school at the age of 16. His reason: The comedic actor wasn't solely a class clown but also a straight-A student. However, times were hard for the young Canadian, where he had to leave school and seek employment to support his family. He worked as a security officer and custodian before deciding to undertake his hand at comedy.