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Sub 505 (Easy)|   Word Problems|         
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Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly 30 May 2025, 08:29
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D
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Question Stats:

94% (01:04) correct 6% (01:32) wrong based on 311 sessions

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Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly rent on an apartment. Because Jonathan has a cat, he paid a 1-time pet deposit of $250. The pet deposit and Jonathan’s share of the monthly rent for the first month totaled $525. How much is the monthly rent on the apartment?

A. $1,575
B. $1,075
C. $1,025
D. $825
E. $775

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D
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Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly 30 May 2025, 08:31
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guddo
Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly rent on an apartment. Because Jonathan has a cat, he paid a 1-time pet deposit of $250. The pet deposit and Jonathan’s share of the monthly rent for the first month totaled $525. How much is the monthly rent on the apartment?

A. $1,575
B. $1,075
C. $1,025
D. $825
E. $775

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Without the pet deposit, Jonathan’s share is 525 - 250 = $275. Since this represents one-third of the total monthly rent, the full rent is 3 * 275 = $825.

Answer: D.
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Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly 01 Jun 2025, 14:36
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Pretty straight forward math

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Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly 22 Jun 2025, 08:09
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Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly rent on an apartment. Because Jonathan has a cat, he paid a 1-time pet deposit of $250. The pet deposit and Jonathan’s share of the monthly rent for the first month totaled $525. How much is the monthly rent on the apartment?

While this question is not very difficult to answer, it serves to highlight some key aspects of getting GMAT Quant questions correct.

One is making sure we answer the question asked: in this case, we have to find the total "monthly rent," which would not include "the pet deposit."

Another is keeping things straight: in this case, we have to keep straight that the $525 that Jonathan paid includes not just his share of the rent but also the pet deposit. So, to find his share of the rent, we have to subtract the pet deposit.

So, we have the following:

Total Rent = 3 × (What Jonathan Paid - The Pet Deposit) = 3 × (525 - 250) = 825

A. $1,575
B. $1,075
C. $1,025
D. $825
E. $775

Correct answer: D
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Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly 23 Jun 2025, 00:22
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Deposit+rent = 525
Deposit = 250
monthly Rent of Jonathan = 525-250 = 275

Total Monthly Rent of all three tenants = 3*275 = 825

Answer: Option D


guddo
Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly rent on an apartment. Because Jonathan has a cat, he paid a 1-time pet deposit of $250. The pet deposit and Jonathan’s share of the monthly rent for the first month totaled $525. How much is the monthly rent on the apartment?

A. $1,575
B. $1,075
C. $1,025
D. $825
E. $775

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Jonathan, Kyle, and Michael agreed to pay equal shares of the monthly 28 Aug 2025, 01:38
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An alternate approach:

Since the monthly rent is split equally among 3 people, the total rent must be a multiple of 3. That gives me a quick elimination strategy. I’ll reject all answer choices that are not multiples of 3.


  • Option A: 1,575
    Add the digits: 1 + 5 + 7 + 5 = 18 → divisible by 3. ✅ Possible. I’ll park this.
  • Option B: 1,075
    Add the digits: 1 + 0 + 7 + 5 = 13 → not divisible by 3. ❌ Rejected.
  • Option C: 1,025
    Add the digits: 1 + 0 + 2 + 5 = 8 → not divisible by 3. ❌ Rejected.
  • Option D: 825
    Add the digits: 8 + 2 + 5 = 15 → divisible by 3. ✅ Possible. I’ll park this.
  • Option E: 775
    Add the digits: 7 + 7 + 5 = 19 → not divisible by 3. ❌ Rejected.


So, I’m left with just A (1,575) and D (825).


Step 2. Think about Jonathan’s share


Jonathan’s total = rent share + $250 pet deposit = $525.
So, his rent share alone would be somewhere around $300.

  • If the total rent were 1,575, then each person’s share would be more than $500.
    That’s way too high compared to around $300 I’m expecting. So, A doesn’t fit.

  • If the total rent were 825, then each person’s share would be a bit less than 300 - between 250 and 300.
    That matches! Adding the $250 pet deposit would bring me to 525, which is what Jonathan actually paid.



Note: I have tried to share how exactly I processed the question in my mind.
525 - 250 =275.
1575/3 is also not a difficult calculation.

However, I realized that I don’t even need to get that precise with my calculations. Just realizing that each person’s share of the rent would be around $300 (525 - 275), and according to option A, each person’s share of the rent would be more than $500 was enough to decide that 1575 is too high.
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