I dropped out of high school in my sophmore year and later got my GED. Scored in the 96 percentile.
Never had anyone question the GED. It is as valid as a "regular" high school diploma, and SOME employers used to consider it BETTER because while most people just go to school as a part of life...it's expected of you... A person who gets a GED, may have had to leave school for one reason or another, but had the determination to go back and get the GED later.
When I first went to community college, I was nervous about "competing" with all the kids who had just graduated from high school.(I had been out of school for almost 40 years)
"Their knowledge was "fresh and current" while mine was old and outdated."
heh-heh. In EVERY class I took, if I wasn't the top of the class, I was in the top 4 or 5.
After 2-1/2 years and 80+units, (I changed majors after a year) my GPA was 3.98, but "dragged down" to a 3.94 because of a class I started to take 12 years earlier...but didn't get to finish because of my work schedule. (the instructor never dropped me and offered to let me take the final and grade me on that plus my earlier work. I ended up with a B for the class.)
For me, the decision whether to get the GED or take AHS would depend on the age of the person, where they are in their life, (work schedule, married, etc.) and how many units they'd need to get the diploma.
In the long run, neither one would be BETTER than the other...but they NEED to get one of them.