Last visit was: 10 Jul 2025, 11:19 It is currently 10 Jul 2025, 11:19
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
vineetgupta
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Last visit: 25 Jul 2009
Posts: 377
Own Kudos:
1,373
 [33]
Posts: 377
Kudos: 1,373
 [33]
4
Kudos
Add Kudos
28
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
ricokevin
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Last visit: 09 Jan 2009
Posts: 193
Own Kudos:
1,084
 [3]
Posts: 193
Kudos: 1,084
 [3]
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
catgmat
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Last visit: 10 Jan 2011
Posts: 187
Own Kudos:
Posts: 187
Kudos: 159
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
vineetgupta
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Last visit: 25 Jul 2009
Posts: 377
Own Kudos:
Posts: 377
Kudos: 1,373
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
catgmat
Conclusion: programm successful, i.e. more graduates than 10 years ago.

Evidence: percentage of last year’s high school graduates wwas 15 percent greater than the percentage graduated 10 years ago.

Assumption: 0.1 x G < 0.15 G, whereas G= constant

A) The number of graduates remained constant each year during the 10-year period.

states this so that the arguement is true!

cheers


I had an identical explanation but the OA is E...any thoughts??
User avatar
dwivedys
Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Last visit: 02 Sep 2018
Posts: 598
Own Kudos:
733
 [1]
Given Kudos: 17
Concentration: Strategy
Schools:Wharton (R2 - submitted); HBS (R2 - submitted); IIMA (admitted for 1 year PGPX)
 Q48  V33 GMAT 2: 670  Q46  V36 GMAT 3: 720  Q49  V40
Posts: 598
Kudos: 733
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
catgmat
Conclusion: programm successful, i.e. more graduates than 10 years ago.

Evidence: percentage of last year’s high school graduates wwas 15 percent greater than the percentage graduated 10 years ago.

Assumption: 0.1 x G < 0.15 G, whereas G= constant

A) The number of graduates remained constant each year during the 10-year period.

states this so that the arguement is true!

cheers


No wonder percentage questions are tricky. I fell in the same trap. It's E for sure.

Well I had chosen A because it would have made sense had the number of HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES (Not the Numbers of People going to College) remained constant. The higher percentage of those going to college (15%) would have actually translated into MORE numbers.

But A is irrelevant here since it talks not of number of students graduating but those going to college.

E on the other hand hits the assumption - if the students despite going to colleges didn't prepare for college degree careers then the purpose of the program (hence the focus of the argument) would have been defeated.

E stands.
User avatar
vineetgupta
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Last visit: 25 Jul 2009
Posts: 377
Own Kudos:
Posts: 377
Kudos: 1,373
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Phew...thats a tough one...can u explain a little...both A and E talk about graduates in general.
User avatar
goalsnr
Joined: 03 Apr 2007
Last visit: 17 Oct 2012
Posts: 630
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 10
Products:
Posts: 630
Kudos: 5,011
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Premises 1: counselors nationwide have implemented an aggressive program to convince high school students to select careers requiring college degrees.
Premises 2:The government reported that the percentage of last year’s high school graduates who went on to college was 15 percent greater than the percentage of those who graduated 10 years ago and did so.

Conclusion:The counselors concluded from this report that the program had been successful.

assumption->Kids went to college to establish their careers.
User avatar
Swagatalakshmi
Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Last visit: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 432
Own Kudos:
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 432
Kudos: 1,090
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
A!

if percentage of graduate students were increaing in last year then this 15% increare didn't happen overnight.
User avatar
[email protected]
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Last visit: 04 Feb 2009
Posts: 312
Own Kudos:
Posts: 312
Kudos: 943
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Answer should be 'E'.

I think why 'A' is NOT CORRECT-

'A' says -The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period.


Assuming this will not make the conclusion strong. As we don't know about the base number (high school graduates).

If the assumption were -
The number of high school graduates remained constant each year during the 10-year period.. This means that the percentage of the college goers is increased and the base number (high school graduates) remains constant. This would have helped the conclusion to be true.
User avatar
javed
Joined: 01 Jan 2007
Last visit: 13 Sep 2007
Posts: 177
Own Kudos:
Posts: 177
Kudos: 320
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Answer should be 'E'.

I think why 'A' is NOT CORRECT-

'A' says -The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period.


Assuming this will not make the conclusion strong. As we don't know about the base number (high school graduates).

If the assumption were -
The number of high school graduates remained constant each year during the 10-year period.. This means that the percentage of the college goers is increased and the base number (high school graduates) remains constant. This would have helped the conclusion to be true.


Well after going through all the above explanation i am still confused why A is wrong. Can any one explain me why A is wrong.

Javed.

Cheers!
User avatar
aurobindo
Joined: 02 Dec 2006
Last visit: 16 Apr 2012
Posts: 562
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 4
Affiliations: FRM Charter holder
Concentration: Finance, Entrepreneurship
Schools:Stanford, Chicago Booth, Babson College
 Q48  V34 GMAT 2: 740  Q49  V42
GPA: 3.53
Posts: 562
Kudos: 487
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
dwivedys
catgmat
Conclusion: programm successful, i.e. more graduates than 10 years ago.

Evidence: percentage of last yearтАЩs high school graduates wwas 15 percent greater than the percentage graduated 10 years ago.

Assumption: 0.1 x G < 0.15 G, whereas G= constant

A) The number of graduates remained constant each year during the 10-year period.

states this so that the arguement is true!

cheers

No wonder percentage questions are tricky. I fell in the same trap. It's E for sure.

Well I had chosen A because it would have made sense had the number of HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES (Not the Numbers of People going to College) remained constant. The higher percentage of those going to college (15%) would have actually translated into MORE numbers.

But A is irrelevant here since it talks not of number of students graduating but those going to college.

E on the other hand hits the assumption - if the students despite going to colleges didn't prepare for college degree careers then the purpose of the program (hence the focus of the argument) would have been defeated.

E stands.


Also, in A it is not clear which 10 year period. Just last 10 years or 10 year s before last year?
avatar
monikanujic
Joined: 27 Nov 2013
Last visit: 21 Jul 2014
Posts: 1
Posts: 1
Kudos: 0
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
vineetgupta
For the past 13 years, high school guidance counselors nationwide have implemented an aggressive program to convince high school students to select careers requiring college degrees. The government reported that the percentage of last year’s high school graduates who went on to college was 15 percent greater than the percentage of those who graduated 10 years ago and did so. The counselors concluded from this report that the program had been successful.

The guidance counselors’ reasoning depends on which one of the following assumptions about high school graduates?
(A) The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period.
(B) Any college courses that the graduates take will improve their career prospects.
(C) Some of the graduates who went on to college never received guidance from a high school counselor.
(D) There has been a decrease in the number of graduates who go on to college without career plans.
(E) Many of last year’s graduates who went on to college did so in order to prepare for careers requiring college degrees.


I think the correct answer is E.
I chose it because it seems to be the most adequate as the aim of the high school guidance counselors is to convince high school students to select careers requiring college degrees which means that the reasoning depends on the fact that students go to college to to prepare for careers requiring college degrees and that are not other reasons for them.

Hope it's correct and clear, Please if I am wrong correct me! :)
avatar
rahultripathi2005
Joined: 22 Jul 2009
Last visit: 31 Jul 2017
Posts: 6
Own Kudos:
Posts: 6
Kudos: 8
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
vineetgupta
Phew...thats a tough one...can u explain a little...both A and E talk about graduates in general.


A is wrong because it is talking about constant students ..
if we negate this choice

The number of graduates who went on to college remained variable each year during the 10-year period.

so it can be 1 student admitted or 1000 students per year we can't weaken the argument ...
because we just know the percentage of students ...

on this basis A can be easily eliminated.

Thanks
Rahul
avatar
Kanika3agg
Joined: 09 May 2018
Last visit: 20 Feb 2021
Posts: 96
Own Kudos:
79
 [1]
Given Kudos: 75
Posts: 96
Kudos: 79
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
For the past 13 years, high school guidance counselors nationwide have implemented an aggressive program to convince high school students to select careers requiring college degrees. The government reported that the percentage of last year's high school graduates who went on to college was 15 percent greater than the percentage of those who graduated 10 years ago and did so. The counselors concluded from this report that the program had been successful.

The guidance counselors' reasoning depends on which one of the following assumptions about high school graduates?
(A) The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period. - The main purpose of program was to convince students to go for careers which require college degrees. Hmmm... So, lets say year 1 - 1000 graduates went to college and year 2 - 10000 graduates went to college but in both the years, only 20 students chose careers which required college degrees so this doesnt matter how many people went to college but how many went to college with that intention of choosing that career requiring college degrees.
(B) Any college courses that the graduates take will improve their career prospects. - Irrelevant to the conclusion, talks about career prospects rather than number of students actually opting that.
(C) Some of the graduates who went on to college never received guidance from a high school counselor. - this also weakens the argument.
(D) There has been a decrease in the number of graduates who go on to college without career plans. - The guidance counselor's reasoning cant depend on this statement. It weakens the argument.
(E) Many of last year's graduates who went on to college did so in order to prepare for careers requiring college degrees. - Guidance counselor would have to assume this for him to justify that the program is successful.

Please let me know if this reasoning seems right.
avatar
nandeta
Joined: 16 Jan 2020
Last visit: 02 Apr 2020
Posts: 52
Own Kudos:
84
 [1]
Given Kudos: 11
Posts: 52
Kudos: 84
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
For the past 13 years, high school guidance counselors nationwide have implemented an aggressive program to convince high school students to select careers requiring college degrees. The government reported that the percentage of last year's high school graduates who went on to college was 15 percent greater than the percentage of those who graduated 10 years ago and did so. The counselors concluded from this report that the program had been successful.

National program = students select careers requiring college degrees.
Because of this, 15% hike in students graduating from college.
Hence, program is successful.


The guidance counselors' reasoning depends on which one of the following assumptions about high school graduates?


(A) The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period.
Wrong. This strengthens the conclusion that the program was successful and not tells us about the assumption.

(B) Any college courses that the graduates take will improve their career prospects.
Wrong. "Any" is a very extreme word and not all degrees will increase their career prospect.

(C) Some of the graduates who went on to college never received guidance from a high school counselor.
Wrong. Whether they received guidance from high school counselor or not only tells us that the program is successful because now they are receiving the guidance.

(D) There has been a decrease in the number of graduates who go on to college without career plans.
Wrong. This weakens the conclusion.

(E) Many of last year's graduates who went on to college did so in order to prepare for careers requiring college degrees.
Right. Graduates only went to college to prepare for careers in requiring college degrees. No other aim.
User avatar
analytica233
Joined: 04 Aug 2019
Last visit: 15 Nov 2022
Posts: 62
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 745
Location: Viet Nam
Concentration: Organizational Behavior, Strategy
Schools: Desautels '23
GMAT 1: 740 Q49 V42
WE:Research (Other)
Products:
Schools: Desautels '23
GMAT 1: 740 Q49 V42
Posts: 62
Kudos: 83
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
vineetgupta
For the past 13 years, high school guidance counselors nationwide have implemented an aggressive program to convince high school students to select careers requiring college degrees. The government reported that the percentage of last year's high school graduates who went on to college was 15 percent greater than the percentage of those who graduated 10 years ago and did so. The counselors concluded from this report that the program had been successful.

The guidance counselors' reasoning depends on which one of the following assumptions about high school graduates?


(A) The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period.

(B) Any college courses that the graduates take will improve their career prospects.

(C) Some of the graduates who went on to college never received guidance from a high school counselor.

(D) There has been a decrease in the number of graduates who go on to college without career plans.

(E) Many of last year's graduates who went on to college did so in order to prepare for careers requiring college degrees.


Conclusion: The program had been successful. Successful in terms of WHAT? The program had been successful in CONVINCING high school students to select careers requiring college degrees.
Why?
Because the percentage of last year's high school graduates who went on to college was 15 percent greater than the percentage of those who graduated 10 years ago and did so.

If we negate (E), it becomes: NOT MANY of last year's graduates who went on to college DID SO IN ORDER TO PREPARE FOR careers requiring college degrees. This breaks Conclusion because it suggests that the program had been not successful in CONVINCING high school students to select careers requiring college degrees. (E) is the required assumption.
User avatar
ravigupta2912
User avatar
Current Student
Joined: 26 May 2019
Last visit: 16 Feb 2025
Posts: 726
Own Kudos:
286
 [2]
Given Kudos: 84
Location: India
GMAT 1: 650 Q46 V34
GMAT 2: 720 Q49 V40
GPA: 2.58
WE:Consulting (Consulting)
Products:
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Premise 1: Program says choose careers which require college degrees
Premise 2: Increase in % of high school grads entering college
Conclusion: Program successful.

Pre-thinking
1. High school grads in with the objective of choosing careers requiring college degrees
2. No other factors such as lower fee, easing admission requirements, etc.

(A) The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period.

Incorrect. The argument is about percentage and accordingly the number can be constant or decrease or increase. Since we're concerned about the proportion of high school graduates entering college.

(B) Any college courses that the graduates take will improve their career prospects.

Incorrect. This is just repeating the premise. Not a missing premise or a logical gap that the assumption answer would be expected to fill.

(C) Some of the graduates who went on to college never received guidance from a high school counselor.

Incorrect. This is a weakener. If some of the graduates never received guidance from HS counselor, the program cannot be said to be successful. Alternatively, negative this and this would actually strengthen the conclusion.

(D) There has been a decrease in the number of graduates who go on to college without career plans.

Incorrect. If you negate this, you get "there has not been a decrease in the no. of grads who go on to college w/o career plans". Now this doesn't necessarily destroy the conclusion. It could simply be possible that the number of grads coming with the purpose of getting into careers which require a college degree has increased sharply.

(E) Many of last year's graduates who went on to college did so in order to prepare for careers requiring college degrees.

Correct answer. Negate this and we get "Many of last year's grads... for careers not requiring college degrees" This absolutely destroys the conclusion in so far as we now know that most college goers are not there with the intent that is preached by the programme. Therefore, the programme has not worked. Correct answer.
User avatar
ansh00700
Joined: 18 Nov 2024
Last visit: 03 Jul 2025
Posts: 6
Given Kudos: 3
Posts: 6
Kudos: 0
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
we have to remove anything that can attack author's conclusion

We have to support author's conclusion through our assumption or defend his conclusion in someway "That program is successful to convince student , there is an increase in percentage of student who went to college that required college degree "

Quote:
(A) The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period. --- this is weakening the argument because it is saying the number of student went to college remain constant so its not supporting the author's conclusion

(B) Any college courses that the graduates take will improve their career prospects. --- INCORRECT no impact on conclusion

(C) Some of the graduates who went on to college never received guidance from a high school counselor. --- Yea there could be people who went to college without counselling as it was earlier so its mildly weakening our conclusion INCORRECT

(D) There has been a decrease in the number of graduates who go on to college without career plans. ---- People going without or with career plan has NO impact on our conclusion

(E) Many of last year's graduates who went on to college did so in order to prepare for careers requiring college degrees. --- This is correct assumption , because of program many student went to college so there is an increase Also they did that to prepare for the career which require college degrees (in premise the program was implemented to convince for the same and student did what was intended by the program )
vineetgupta
For the past 13 years, high school guidance counselors nationwide have implemented an aggressive program to convince high school students to select careers requiring college degrees. The government reported that the percentage of last year's high school graduates who went on to college was 15 percent greater than the percentage of those who graduated 10 years ago and did so. The counselors concluded from this report that the program had been successful.

The guidance counselors' reasoning depends on which one of the following assumptions about high school graduates?


(A) The number of graduates who went on to college remained constant each year during the 10-year period.

(B) Any college courses that the graduates take will improve their career prospects.

(C) Some of the graduates who went on to college never received guidance from a high school counselor.

(D) There has been a decrease in the number of graduates who go on to college without career plans.

(E) Many of last year's graduates who went on to college did so in order to prepare for careers requiring college degrees.
Moderators:
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7349 posts
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
235 posts