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apoorvmht
In a class of 100 students, more students were born in October than in any other month. What is the least possible number of students who were born in October?

A. 8
B. 9
C. 10
D. 11
E. 12

100/12 = 8.something. So, the least number must be more than 8.

If 9 students were born in October, and 8 students in each of the remaining eleven months, the total would be 9 + 8*11 = 97, which is less than 100. So, the least number must be more than 9.

However, with 10 students born in October, the remaining 90 students can be distributed in the eleven months without any month having 10 or more students. 8 students in eleven months would total 88, so we could make nine months to have 8 students and two months to have 9 students. Therefore, 10 is the least possible number of students who were born in October.

Answer: C.
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apoorvmht
In a class of 100 students, more students were born in October than in any other month. What is the least possible number of students who were born in October?

A. 8
B. 9
C. 10
D. 11
E. 12

To find the minimum number of students who were born in October we have to distribute in such a way to ensure that a maximum number of students are born in the remaining months.

Let's assume that 8 students are born in each of the 12 months

Number of students = 8 * 12 = 96

Number of students remaining = 100 - 96 = 4

As October has the highest number of students born, two of the remaining 4 students can be added to October and the remaining two students can be distributed one each to other months.

Hence, minimum number of students born in October = 8 + 2 = 10

Option C


I don't understand why 10 is the correct answer here. There is the possibility that the remaining two students could be distributed to one other month (e.g., September), which would make October & September equal, and thus the condition of October having more students born than in any other month would not be true. 8*10 + 10*2 = 100 so this is entirely possible. I chose 11 because that is the only number the certifies none of the other months would match October's number of students.

Unless the question is looking for a response that does not need 100% certainty for the condition to occur? How am I to assume that is the case in future GMAT questions?

The question asks to find the least POSSIBLE number of students who were born in October. This number cannot be 9, as explained here. However, it COULD be 10, if nine months have 8 students and two months have 9 students. Therefore, 10 is the least POSSIBLE number of students who were born in October.
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A makeshift way of doing this could be to check for the multiple of 11, when we multiply 11 by 9, we get 99, which shows us that if october has 10 births, the 11 left could all have 9 (since there is no rule which states it cannot) and therefore we can adjust a few numbers to make a total of 100, however when we only deduct 8 & 9 from 100, we are left with 7 & 8 which give 77 and 88, which do not add up to a 100 in the best case scenario.
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Good optimization problem. Max the other months and the distribute the remainder to minimize october:

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apoorvmht
In a class of 100 students, more students were born in October than in any other month. What is the least possible number of students who were born in October?

A. 8
B. 9
C. 10
D. 11
E. 12

October has most students. To minimize the value allocated to October, distribute as equally as you can (base case) and then give October just a smidge more.

12*8 = 96 so equal distribution will involve all months getting 8 students each and then 4 months getting 1 more student.

8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9

October could have 9 but then it doesn't have more than every other month. So October must have 10 students.

8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 10, 9, 9 - This works.

Answer (C)
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Remember more students were born in October than in any other month
apoorvmht
In a class of 100 students, more students were born in October than in any other month. What is the least possible number of students who were born in October?

A. 8
B. 9
C. 10
D. 11
E. 12
lets solve using the options
1) 8
12 months-->8 students each
total= 96--> remaining= 4 students
case 1:
all 4 can be added to october
case 2:
if we add one student to october and remaining 3 to three different months, October along with 3 other months will have 9 students. thus more students were born in October than in any other month condition will not be met (4 months have 9 students, hence October doesnt have the greatest value)

2) 9
we have actually checked for 8 and 9 both in the option above. using the same logic this option can be eliminated

3) 10
If October has 10 students--> remaining=90
90/11 months--->all 11 months will have either 8 or 9 students and since October has 10 it is the highest.

Since we have to find the least possible number we will not check the rest.
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