The original sentence has some problems:
-Use of "while" + "at the same time" is redundant.
-Use of past perfect "had written is not required since there is no sequence of events.

Pre-thinking:
In this question while is used to denote same-time events, so correct answer choice would be:
While Willa Carther was a student in the early 1890s, she wrote theatric and music reviews....

Whit my pre-thinking I tried to find an answer, and B was the best fit. However, the structure of this option is the following:
While + Noun modifier, + Clause:
While a student in the early 1890s, Willa Cather wrote theater and music reviews that were often uncompromising in their criticisms.

I know that the uses of while are the following:
1) Show that two events are happening at the same time: Ex. The phone rang while I was writing this post.
2) Denote a contrast. (although)

But when used for same-time events, Can we use "while" before a noun modifier or we need While + Clause1, clause2 as stated in my pre-thinking?
I got the right answer choice B, but just wanted to validate this grammar query.

While reading the newspaper, I saw her. -- correct

While she was reading the newspaper, I saw her. -- correct

I never noticed a noun after "while". Is this usage correct in choice B?

"As" can be used for simultaneous actions.

As I was reading newspaper, I noticed her leaving the office -- correct

In choice D, Use of "As" is incorrect?

Option B is wrong. "While" ideally introduces a dependent clause.
I was playing while my mother was cooking.
"While" cannot introduce a noun.

Option D is wrong - the sentence uses "as" in the sense "because". "As" to indicate simultaneous actions should use action verbs; verb to be ("was") is not an action verb.

Thanks ! that means no choice is correct in this case?

can anybody explain that the pronoun their is used for these two 'theater and music reviews' ?
need help

theater and music reviews that were often uncompromising in their criticisms.

Here "that" is modifying preceding noun "reviews" and is acting as the subject for the subsequent clause. Try replacing that with reviews and you get following clause - "reviews were often uncompromising in their criticisms."
Hope this helps

Hello sayantanc2k,

Could you please help in identifying the correct answer for this question

1. Why is the use of "had" wrong in option C. Is it that the events are not related or are not sequential?
2. Does option C also have any structural error, redundancy or meaning error?
3. is the meaning change significant for use to discard E?

Thanks a lot.
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Can someone provide the correct answer to this question?

A) During the early 1890s, while ((at the same time)) a student, Willa Cather had written - redundancy error

B) While a student in the early 1890s, Willa Cather wrote - correct

C) Willa Cather ((had written)), while ((as)) a student in the early 1890s, - redundancy error

D) Willa Cather wrote, ((as she was a student)) in the early 1890s, - changes meaning

E) While a student in the early 1890s, Willa Cather ((became known)) for her - changes meaning

I don't see any problem in the usage of while in this context. Applying the basic rules all options except B can be eliminated.

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sayantanc2k ....Plz if you can validate the above highlighted part

abhimahna Please guide for this question. I marked Option C

Not clear with your explanation. Could you please elaborate a bit more sonal?

Hi vasuca10,

'as' is also used to show a role.
She takes care of her sister as a mother - it means 'she takes care of her sister as a mother does'

In the above question, Willa Cather was not playing a role of a student but she was indeed a student.

now, we can easily eliminate C & D.
A & E are wrong for meaning and tenses.

Well , I'm still not convinced with B as an answer , as all the newbies have posted their analysis , most of them looks like an odd guess.

Any experts on this ? Application of while in option B ? is it making sense ?

GMATNinja @Abhimahana GMATninja2 mikemcgarry Magoosh payaltandon
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The intention of the question-writer is that "while" indicates that two things happen simultaneously ("While eating his weight in burritos, Charlie was happy."). And that's completely fine.

However, you'll want to take this one with a huge grain of salt, since it's a non-official question. Some of you are probably tired of hearing me say this, but the GMAT spends between $1500 and $3000 developing each individual GMAT question, and even the best test-prep companies can't compete with that. And this one just doesn't quite feel like a GMAT question to me.

The use of "while" (indicating two simultaneous events) is perfectly acceptable in (B), but "while" can also be a synonym for "although" -- so the exact meaning of "while" in (B) is arguably a little bit confusing, and I'm not sure that you'd see an official GMAT question with this issue. So don't worry about this one too much.

I hope this helps!
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GMATNinja

Thanks a ton ! this clears up.
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GMATNinja

I struggled with this question because the clause "While a student in the early 1890s" doesn't contain any verb form. Don't we require a verb form such as "being"? Its weird that I sensed that B felt right but because of the problem I described I ruled out this answer.

Can you please elaborate on this?