Last visit was: 18 Nov 2025, 22:24 It is currently 18 Nov 2025, 22:24
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
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.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
   1   2   3 
605-655 Level|   Meaning/Logical Predication|   Modifiers|   Pronouns|   Subjunctive|   Verb Tense/Form|                           
User avatar
RenB
User avatar
Joined: 13 Jul 2022
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 391
Own Kudos:
1,361
Given Kudos: 303
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Nonprofit
Schools: Stanford '26 Wharton  '26 (D) Kellogg '26 (II) Booth '26 (D) Yale '26 (S) CBS '26 (II) Darden '26 (S) HBS '26 (D) Ross '26 (II) LBS '26 (D) Tuck '26 (II)
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q90 V84 DI82
GPA: 3.74
WE:Corporate Finance (Consulting)
Schools: Stanford '26 Wharton  '26 (D) Kellogg '26 (II) Booth '26 (D) Yale '26 (S) CBS '26 (II) Darden '26 (S) HBS '26 (D) Ross '26 (II) LBS '26 (D) Tuck '26 (II)
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q90 V84 DI82
Posts: 391
Kudos: 1,361
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 20 Mar 2023, 19:27
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATNinja
Quote:
(A) with students' objections to particular activities, so long as the groups they give money to will be
Whoa, there’s all sorts of weird crap in (A). For starters, “universities may collect student activity fees even with students’ objections to particular activities” literally seems to be saying that activity fees and objections are collected together, somehow. And that doesn’t make sense.

I’m also not thrilled with the pronouns. I’m OK with the “their” at the very end of the sentence, because that seems to refer to the most recent plural noun (“groups”), but I don't love the phrase “they give money to.” I guess “they” is trying to refer to “public universities”, but we have a whole bunch of other plural nouns in the way (“student activity fees”, “students’ objections”, “activities”).

Of course, pronoun ambiguity isn’t an absolute rule on the GMAT (as discussed in this video), but it’s really not awesome when the pronouns are somewhat confusing. Maybe the pronoun isn’t WRONG, but it’s not ideal, either.

I also have absolutely no idea why the future tense “will be” appears in this sentence.

So we have plenty of good reasons to ditch (A).

Quote:
(B) if they have objections to particular activities and the groups that are given the money are
The first “they” is definitely wrong in (B). The only plural nouns earlier in the sentence are “public universities” and “activity fees”, and neither of those make sense. The sentence is trying to say that universities can collect fees even if students have objections to particular activities – and the only form of “students” in the sentence is actually an adjective (“student activity fees”).

There’s also a meaning issue that stems from the parallelism in (B). We have: “…public universities may collect student activity fees even if they have objections to particular activities and the groups that are given the money are chosen without regard to their views.”

That doesn’t actually make sense: the sentence is not trying to say that universities may collect fees even if groups receive money without regard to their views. The sentence is trying to say that universities may collect fees as long as the groups receive money without regard to their views. That last part is a requirement imposed by the Supreme Court, so it’s wrong to precede the phrase with “even if.”

So (B) is out.

Quote:
(C) if they object to particular activities, but the groups that the money is given to have to be
Welp, “they” is still wrong at the beginning of the underlined portion. See the explanations for (A) and (B) above for more on the pronoun issue.

You could also argue that the end of the underlined portion is unnecessarily messy: “the groups that the money is given to have to be” is a very wordy way to say “the groups given money must be…” By itself, this isn’t necessarily WRONG, but it’s not great, either.

And even if you don’t agree with anything I wrote in that last paragraph, the pronoun issues are enough to eliminate (C).

Let’s line up our last two candidates side-by-side:
Quote:
(D) from students who object to particular activities, so long as the groups given money are
(E) though students have an objection to particular activities, but the groups that are given the money be
The meaning of that first part of the underlined portion is very different in (E) than in (D). (E) is literally saying that universities may collect activity fees “even though students” object to certain activities. The trouble is, it’s not clear WHICH students object to the fees. (D), on the other hand, clarifies that universities can collect fees from the specific students who object to particular activities. And the meaning of (D) makes a whole lot more sense, given the context of the sentence.

The last part of the underlined portion is also much better in (D) than in (E). The sentence is trying to say that universities can collect fees only if the groups given money are “chosen without regard to their views.” (D) correctly conveys that meaning with the phrase “so long as”; (E) loses part of the point of the sentence by using “but” instead.

So (E) is out, and (D) is our answer.
Show more

Can you shed some light on the structure 'groups given money'?
Is it grammatically correct?
Can you elaborate more on this type of structure with examples?

My analysis pro E-
I saw option E with 'groups that are given money' and felt this structure is better
I split the sentence as:
1- The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities can collect student activity fees even though students have an objection to particular activities
2. The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities can collect student activity fees but the groups that are given the money be chosen without regard to their views

Can you please review this reasoning and let me know?
GMATNinja
KarishmaB CrackverbalGMAT

Thanks :)
User avatar
KarishmaB
User avatar
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 16,266
Own Kudos:
76,983
Given Kudos: 482
Location: Pune, India
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 16,266
Kudos: 76,983
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 21 Mar 2023, 04:29
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
RenB
GMATNinja
Quote:
(A) with students' objections to particular activities, so long as the groups they give money to will be
Whoa, there’s all sorts of weird crap in (A). For starters, “universities may collect student activity fees even with students’ objections to particular activities” literally seems to be saying that activity fees and objections are collected together, somehow. And that doesn’t make sense.

I’m also not thrilled with the pronouns. I’m OK with the “their” at the very end of the sentence, because that seems to refer to the most recent plural noun (“groups”), but I don't love the phrase “they give money to.” I guess “they” is trying to refer to “public universities”, but we have a whole bunch of other plural nouns in the way (“student activity fees”, “students’ objections”, “activities”).

Of course, pronoun ambiguity isn’t an absolute rule on the GMAT (as discussed in this video), but it’s really not awesome when the pronouns are somewhat confusing. Maybe the pronoun isn’t WRONG, but it’s not ideal, either.

I also have absolutely no idea why the future tense “will be” appears in this sentence.

So we have plenty of good reasons to ditch (A).

Quote:
(B) if they have objections to particular activities and the groups that are given the money are
The first “they” is definitely wrong in (B). The only plural nouns earlier in the sentence are “public universities” and “activity fees”, and neither of those make sense. The sentence is trying to say that universities can collect fees even if students have objections to particular activities – and the only form of “students” in the sentence is actually an adjective (“student activity fees”).

There’s also a meaning issue that stems from the parallelism in (B). We have: “…public universities may collect student activity fees even if they have objections to particular activities and the groups that are given the money are chosen without regard to their views.”

That doesn’t actually make sense: the sentence is not trying to say that universities may collect fees even if groups receive money without regard to their views. The sentence is trying to say that universities may collect fees as long as the groups receive money without regard to their views. That last part is a requirement imposed by the Supreme Court, so it’s wrong to precede the phrase with “even if.”

So (B) is out.

Quote:
(C) if they object to particular activities, but the groups that the money is given to have to be
Welp, “they” is still wrong at the beginning of the underlined portion. See the explanations for (A) and (B) above for more on the pronoun issue.

You could also argue that the end of the underlined portion is unnecessarily messy: “the groups that the money is given to have to be” is a very wordy way to say “the groups given money must be…” By itself, this isn’t necessarily WRONG, but it’s not great, either.

And even if you don’t agree with anything I wrote in that last paragraph, the pronoun issues are enough to eliminate (C).

Let’s line up our last two candidates side-by-side:
Quote:
(D) from students who object to particular activities, so long as the groups given money are
(E) though students have an objection to particular activities, but the groups that are given the money be
The meaning of that first part of the underlined portion is very different in (E) than in (D). (E) is literally saying that universities may collect activity fees “even though students” object to certain activities. The trouble is, it’s not clear WHICH students object to the fees. (D), on the other hand, clarifies that universities can collect fees from the specific students who object to particular activities. And the meaning of (D) makes a whole lot more sense, given the context of the sentence.

The last part of the underlined portion is also much better in (D) than in (E). The sentence is trying to say that universities can collect fees only if the groups given money are “chosen without regard to their views.” (D) correctly conveys that meaning with the phrase “so long as”; (E) loses part of the point of the sentence by using “but” instead.

So (E) is out, and (D) is our answer.

Can you shed some light on the structure 'groups given money'?
Is it grammatically correct?
Can you elaborate more on this type of structure with examples?

My analysis pro E-
I saw option E with 'groups that are given money' and felt this structure is better
I split the sentence as:
1- The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities can collect student activity fees even though students have an objection to particular activities
2. The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities can collect student activity fees but the groups that are given the money be chosen without regard to their views

Can you please review this reasoning and let me know?
GMATNinja
KarishmaB CrackverbalGMAT

Thanks :)
Show more

"given money" is a past participle modifier of 'groups'

The cake eaten by me was delicious. (Likely there were many cakes and the one I ate was delicious)

The project submitted yesterday will bring us glory.
Which project will bring us glory? The one that was submitted yesterday.

They are similar to 'that clause' modifiers in usage.
The cake that was eaten by me was delicious.
The project that was submitted yesterday will bring us glory.

(E) doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I have many issues with its meaning and structure.

(E) The SC has ruled that univs may collect money even though students have an objection to particular activities, but the groups that are given the money be chosen without regard to their views.

All students wouldn't object to particular activities, right? After all some students are participating in the activities that is why they are going on. Hence I am wondering what it really means.
'an objection' is singular so does it really work properly with 'students'? I wish to find something better.

Also, when we say that SC has ruled so and so, we need to only say what SC has ruled. It is odd to give the opposing side's views within the ruling.

For example, I can say:
Even though many students oppose the student activity fees charged by univs, the SC has ruled that the univs may collect such fees so long as ...
This is ok

But the SC's ruling will not include this info, right?
The SC has ruled that the univs may collect student activity fees even though many students oppose it, but the groups that are given money be ...
This is not ok.

It also seems that the SC has ruled two contrasting but independent things (with the use of 'comma + but' in between):
- univs may collect student activity fees even though students have an objection to particular activities
- the groups that are given the money be chosen without regard to their views

There isn't a contrast between the two. One is an extension of the other.

Hence, overall (E) doesn't convey a lot of sense.


(D) The SC has ruled that univs may collect money from even those students who object to certain activities so long as the groups given this money are chosen ...
This makes a lot more sense!
User avatar
brt
User avatar
Joined: 17 Feb 2019
Last visit: 31 Jul 2024
Posts: 49
Own Kudos:
19
Given Kudos: 157
Posts: 49
Kudos: 19
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 10 Jun 2023, 22:24
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect student activity fees even with students' objections to particular activities, so long as the groups they give money to will be chosen without regard to their views.


(A) with students' objections to particular activities, so long as the groups they give money to will be

(B) if they have objections to particular activities and the groups that are given the money are

(C) if they object to particular activities, but the groups that the money is given to have to be

(D) from students who object to particular activities, so long as the groups given money are

(E) though students have an objection to particular activities, but the groups that are given the money be

This question looks interesting.
I dont know how far this is correct from grammar point of view.
Lets follow process of elimination.
In option E even though and but seem to be redundant. - Eliminate E
In option B- students who object to particular activities and the groups that are given money are two different parts of the sentence. So we need a contrast to stabilize the meaning of sentence, by using 'and' the sentence is losing its meaning.
eliminate B.
In option C- Even if and but sounds wrong. If should be used 80% of the times in conditionals only. Eliminate C
we are left with A and C.
In option A- there is a lot of confusion regarding the plural pronoun 'they'. Is it referring to students or universities?
even the pronoun 'their' who is it referring to?
So by following POE we are left with only D
Ans is D
User avatar
talslsels
User avatar
Joined: 28 Mar 2021
Last visit: 10 Jul 2023
Posts: 2
Given Kudos: 31
Posts: 2
Kudos: 0
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 26 Jun 2023, 17:13
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
What makes me very confusing is why the sentence doesn't use "groups given money to..."?
Why did D use "groups given money"?
User avatar
EducationAisle
User avatar
Joined: 27 Mar 2010
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,891
Own Kudos:
3,579
Given Kudos: 159
Location: India
Schools: ISB
GPA: 3.31
Expert
Expert reply
Schools: ISB
Posts: 3,891
Kudos: 3,579
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 27 Jun 2023, 03:38
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
talslsels
What makes me very confusing is why the sentence doesn't use "groups given money to..."?
Why did D use "groups given money"?
Show more
groups given money = groups (that are) given money
User avatar
DmitryFarber
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Last visit: 08 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,020
Own Kudos:
8,563
 [2]
Given Kudos: 57
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 3,020
Kudos: 8,563
 [2]
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 29 Jun 2023, 12:49
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
talslsels

"Groups given money to" would actually be incorrect. We can say "I gave you a gift" or "You were given a gift" or "You are someone to whom I gave a gift," but we can't say "You are someone given a gift to." "Given" already modifies you (or, in the original the groups), so we know who received the gift. Adding "to" at that point is redundant is not idiomatic usage.
User avatar
talslsels
User avatar
Joined: 28 Mar 2021
Last visit: 10 Jul 2023
Posts: 2
Given Kudos: 31
Posts: 2
Kudos: 0
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 30 Jun 2023, 12:31
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
DmitryFarber
talslsels

"Groups given money to" would actually be incorrect. We can say "I gave you a gift" or "You were given a gift" or "You are someone to whom I gave a gift," but we can't say "You are someone given a gift to." "Given" already modifies you (or, in the original the groups), so we know who received the gift. Adding "to" at that point is redundant is not idiomatic usage.
Show more

Got it. Thanks so much for your explanation!
User avatar
Can,Will
User avatar
Joined: 17 May 2018
Last visit: 05 Apr 2025
Posts: 180
Own Kudos:
39
Given Kudos: 138
Location: India
Schools: IIM
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: IIM
Posts: 180
Kudos: 39
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 15 Oct 2023, 04:55
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
KarishmaB
egmat
GMATNinja
Magoosh
DmitryFarber


in the option D) The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect student activity fees even from students who object to particular activities, so long as the groups given money are chosen without regard to their views.

I have a conceptual doubt here. The first part before comma is itself an independent clause and remaining part of the option choice is also an independent clause then how can we combine two ICs with a comma and so long as ?
User avatar
KarishmaB
User avatar
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 16,266
Own Kudos:
76,983
 [1]
Given Kudos: 482
Location: Pune, India
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 16,266
Kudos: 76,983
 [1]
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 16 Oct 2023, 00:32
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Can,Will
KarishmaB
egmat
GMATNinja
Magoosh
DmitryFarber


in the option D) The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect student activity fees even from students who object to particular activities, so long as the groups given money are chosen without regard to their views.

I have a conceptual doubt here. The first part before comma is itself an independent clause and remaining part of the option choice is also an independent clause then how can we combine two ICs with a comma and so long as ?
Show more

'so long as' is a subordinating conjunction. The second part after the comma is a dependent clause. When a dependent clause comes at the beginning, it is usually separated from the main clause by a comma. When it comes after the main clause, you normally don't need a comma but it is not unacceptable either.
With an adverbial clause like this one "so long as the groups given money are ...," you may or may not put a comma before it. The use of comma here will not be tested on GMAT.
User avatar
toothless123
User avatar
Joined: 05 Apr 2020
Last visit: 10 Mar 2024
Posts: 19
Own Kudos:
1
Given Kudos: 7
Posts: 19
Kudos: 1
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 28 Nov 2023, 12:13
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Questions:
1) In Option E, is the sentence after but a clause? 'X be selected without Y'
2) In Option A, does 'they' refer to 'universities' whereas 'their' refers to 'students' or both refer to universities only?
3) In Option B, can we say that as 2 clauses are connected by just 'and' and not comma + and, that is also an error?

Analysis of other options:
(A) with students' objections to particular activities, so long as the groups they give money to will be

1) It seems like universities are collecting 1) student activity fees 2) students' objections
2) 'will be chosen' does not seem logical, as it talking about a general condition(as long as X happens, Y may do Z; and not as long as X will happen, Y may do Z)

(B) if they have objections to particular activities and the groups that are given the money are

1) 'they' seems to refer to universities- meaning error
2) 'their' again seems to refer to universities, whereas it should refer to students
3) 2 clauses connected by only 'and', and not comma + and
  • Clause 1: they have objections to particular activities
  • Clause 2: the groups that are given the money are...

(C) if they object to particular activities, but the groups that the money is given to have to be

#1 and #2 errors same as B

(D) from students who object to particular activities, so long as the groups given money are

Meaning:
  • Students perform say 10 activities
  • Either some students or all students object to say 2 out of n activities
  • Acc to SC ruling, the PU can still collect student activity fees from each and every student, who objects or doesnt or perform all n activities or a subset of those or 0 activities
  • The only condition is that the view of these objecting students shouldnt be taken into account while selecting the group of people who would receive this money (collected as part of student activity fees)
User avatar
DmitryFarber
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Last visit: 08 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,020
Own Kudos:
8,563
 [1]
Given Kudos: 57
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 3,020
Kudos: 8,563
 [1]
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 28 Nov 2023, 23:35
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
toothless123
Questions:
1) In Option E, is the sentence after but a clause? 'X be selected without Y'
2) In Option A, does 'they' refer to 'universities' whereas 'their' refers to 'students' or both refer to universities only?
3) In Option B, can we say that as 2 clauses are connected by just 'and' and not comma + and, that is also an error?
Show more

1) The short answer is no, since "be" is not valid on its own as a verb. But it's always hard to say whether something in an invalid structure is really a clause or a modifier, because the whole point is that the sentence hasn't been built correctly. E reads as if it's introducing a clause, since it follows a full clause with BUT + NOUN. However, the phrase that follows isn't really coherent enough to categorize. I can use BE if I'm using the subjunctive ("She demanded that the groups be chosen without XYZ"), but that's not what's going on here.

2) Apparently, yes. This works fine in real life as long as the meaning is clear, but the GMAT doesn't usually like to have two different instances of THEY/THEM/THEIR referring to different nouns. This is a good reason to cut A.

3) No, there's no rule that two clauses joined with AND must have a comma. You *can* do it, but it's not required. Honestly, there are very few rules about when you must/must not use a comma. It's more when a comma is not enough. For instance, you can't use JUST a comma to join two clauses; you need AND. However, it's the AND part that's important. The comma is often dispensable.
User avatar
toothless123
User avatar
Joined: 05 Apr 2020
Last visit: 10 Mar 2024
Posts: 19
Own Kudos:
1
Given Kudos: 7
Posts: 19
Kudos: 1
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 29 Nov 2023, 09:26
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Thanks so much Dimitry for your quick response! My last question is that in Option A, can we say that usage of 'will' is incorrect and how do we rationalize it?

'so long as the groups they give money to will be chosen without regard to their views'

This part represents a condition (as long as X will happen, then Y may do Z). Can we say that this is similar to 'if..then' construction, and as we are talking about something that is happening in the present, the condition should be in present, and result should be in present or future.
User avatar
DmitryFarber
User avatar
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Last visit: 08 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,020
Own Kudos:
8,563
Given Kudos: 57
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 745 Q86 V90 DI85
Posts: 3,020
Kudos: 8,563
The Supreme Court has ruled that public universities may collect stude 29 Nov 2023, 12:33
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
toothless123

WILL BE isn't necessarily wrong in all such cases. It just emphasizes that this is something that will happen in the future, and not something ongoing or something that has already happened. That could be the intent here, but ARE is a bit more general. It suggests that if this is the general practice--we don't allocate funding based on the views of the groups--then collecting these fees is okay. Notice that the Court is presumably ruling on something that has already happened and that has been the subject of litigation. So they are saying the practice is okay, even if it has already happened.
   1   2   3 
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7445 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
234 posts
miag
188 posts