On the basis of a decrease in the college-age population, many college

it is showing that there was 40 percent increase in the nice college qualified applicants last year, so how d can be right?

On the basis of a decrease in the college-age population, many colleges now anticipate increasingly smaller freshman classes each year. Surprised by a 40 percent increase in qualified applicants over the previous year, however, administrators at Nice College now plan to hire more faculty for courses taken by all freshmen.

Which of the following statements about Nice College’s current qualified applicants, if true, would strongly suggest that the administrators’ plan is flawed?


(A) A substantially higher percentage than usual plan to study for advanced degrees after graduation from college. IRRELEVANT

(B) According to their applications, their level of participation in extracurricular activities and varsity sports is unusually high. IRRELEVANT

(C) According to their applications, none of them lives in a foreign country. IRRELEVANT

(D) A substantially lower percentage than usual rate Nice College as their first choice among the colleges to which they are applying. CORRECT. lesser percentage than previous years have NICE College as first choice. this implies that lower number of applicants will be willing to join this college in real sense.

(E) A substantially lower percentage than usual list mathematics as their intended major. IRRELEVANT.

Thus, maybe more people will apply, but if those applicants get into other schools and would prefer to go to those schools over Nice College, then those applicants will not actually enroll at Nice College. Perhaps, for example, more applicants are simply applying to Nice College as a "safety" school and, if they are accepted, would prefer to go to other schools. Thus, the increase in faculty could be a waste.

Can anybody verify the source of this question?[/quot


This question was posted so long ago. I’m aware that most have moved on, but I have the same question as GMAT Ninja.

I arrived at the correct answer through Process of Elimination, but it doesn’t seem like any of the answers are “correct”.

Getting to the correct answer by eliminating the obvious wrong ones worked....

Posted from my mobile device

American education System :

Middle shool / Junior High School 6 - 8th grade
Freshmen - 9
Sophomore - 10
Junior - 11
Senior - 12


Undergrad
Freshman - 1st year of undergraduate college
Sophomore - 2nd year of undergraduate college
Junior - 3rd year of undergraduate college
Senior - 4th year of undergraduate college

The correct option is option D.

Let us understand the passage.

- Population of college-going population has seen a decrease
- Based on above, many colleges are expecting to see smaller freshman (first year) batches (lesser number of students)
- Observed - a 40% increase in qualified applicants compared to previous year at Nice College
- Plan by Nice College - Hire more faculty to cover the courses taken by freshmen

- Flaw in the plan.

The logical jump the Nice college authorities seem to have taken is to equate Applicants with actual enrolments (Out of 100 applicants, how many students actually join the college?). A student may apply, and successfully qualify to multiple colleges. What if a significant number of these qualified applicants choose some other college? Then, the plan to hire faculty would be futile.

Which is what makes option D correct. It essentially tells us that a significantly lower % of people would consider Nice College as their first choice i.e. probably go to some other college even if they qualify for Nice.


(A) A substantially higher percentage than usual plan to study for advanced degrees after graduation from college.
We are only concerned with the plan to hire faculty for teaching freshmen courses. Even if a significantly high % of Nice's qualified applicants plan to do higher studies, that has no relevance to whether the plan to hire faculty for their first year freshman courses is flawed or not

(B) According to their applications, their level of participation in extracurricular activities and varsity sports is unusually high.
Participation in extra-curriculars is completely irelevant here

(C) According to their applications, none of them lives in a foreign country.
Also completely irrelevant.

(D) A substantially lower percentage than usual rate Nice College as their first choice among the colleges to which they are applying.
As discusses, this is the correct answer. It essentially tells us that a significantly lower % of people would consider Nice College as their first choice i.e. probably go to some other college even if they qualify for Nice. Which would make the plan to hire faculty problematic (whats the point of faculty if you dont have enough students?)

(E) A substantially lower percentage than usual list mathematics as their intended major.
Irrelevant.

Hope this helps!

Would appreciate if someone can explain what this line means -

2 ways to understand the meaning :
1. Simplify the words:
On the basis of a decrease in the college-age population
on the basis of population : i see it seems some number. what number? college age. oh so it means total number of people in college
So they have totoal number of people. I guess they mean people here as students.

2. When you read the whole argument, by now you should be clear that they are taking of freshman numbers

So the meaning is : as the number of students are decreasing , so admin plan to hire more faculty . why because they get 40% more qualified applications.

What's the problem with this reasoning?
>> even without seeing any option , you can guess: they get many applications but still students may not join here. In short, population of students may not increase ( more freshmen may not join)
D fulfills this gap ( this college is not the first priority)

i hope it is clear.

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