After his first semester in college, Thomas is applying for a scholars

Grade: A | A- | B+ | B | B- | C+ | C | C-
Value: 4 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 2 | 1.7

7.4 + 3.3 + 3 + x = 3.5 * 5

x = 17.5 - 13.7 = 3.8

Grade A is required to qualify

Answer = A

Hi All,

Most Test Takers would treat this prompt as an "Average Formula" question, which is absolutely fine. As an alternative, here's a way to solve this problem without using the Average Formula:

The five "grades" are 3.7, 3.7, 3.3, 3.0 and X

To get an overall average of 3.5 or higher, we can "balance out" the values and figure out what the 5th value must be:

3.7 (.2 above)
3.7 (.2 above)
3.3 (.2 below)
3.0 (.5 below)

With these 4 values, 3.7 and 3.3 are the same "distance" away from the 3.5; the other 3.7 doesn't offset the 3.0 "enough" (the net effect is still .3 below); thus, the X value has to be high enough above 3.5 to "make up for" the .3 below. The X would have to be at least 3.8…

The only Grade that accomplishes that is an A Grade.

Final Answer:

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

VeritasKarishma can you plz expain this

He needs an avg of 3.5

He already has
2 A- i.e. 2 scores of 3.7 i.e. 2*0.2 = 0.4 more than what he needs.
1 B+ i.e. 1 score of 3.3 i.e. 0.2 less than what he needs.
1 B i.e. 1 score of 3 i.e. 0.5 less than what he needs.

He has excess 0.4 and is short by 0.2+0.5 = 0.7. Overall, he is short by 0.3.

So in the next course, he must get 3.5 + 0.3 = 3.8 to get the 3.5 average.
A- will give him only 3.7 so he must get an A to qualify for the scholarship.

Answer (A)

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