In Country Cora, the rate of students going to university has grown an

Question

In Country Cora, the rate of students going to university has grown and is higher than the rate in Country Sofia even though both countries are equal in size and have the same population.

If the statements above are correct, they most strongly support which of the following?

A. Country Sofia has more students going into universities than Country Cora.

B. Both countries have the same number of students going into universities.

C. Students will be better off getting education in Country Cora.

D. Country Cora has more graduate students than Country Sofia.

E. There are fewer university students in Country Sofia than there are in Country Cora.

Sumi1010 · Accepted Answer

Hi  Bunuel 
This is an  inference  problem  and not a strengthen problem  (as is the problem tagged with). 
The question says "If the statements  above  are correct...." i.e. question statements are considered true here.
 Note:  The strengthen question should say " which of the following, if true, ..." i.e. choices are considered true.

Nevertheless, based on the information provided, the answer choice MUST be TRUE.

Rate of  students  going to university = 
No. of  students  going to university / No. of  students  in Total (i.e. going to university + not going to university).  
The all that we know is that both countries are equal in size and have the  same population .

IMO, We can't assume "population" = No. of students in Total (i.e. going to university + not going to university).

If so,none of the choices is correct. I would like to wait for the OE.

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

In Country Cora, the rate of students going to university has grown and is higher than the rate in Country Sofia even though both countries are equal in size and have the same population.

If the statements above are correct, they most strongly support which of the following?

A. Country Sofia has more students going into universities than Country Cora.

Incorrect.

This is an Inference question, so it is made up of premises only; you need to find a conclusion stemming from those premises.

Premise A: Country Cora's rate of university students has grown and surpasses that of Country Sofia's rate.
 +
Premise B: Both countries are equal in size and population.
 =
Conclusion: ?

This answer choice contradicts the information given in the premises. If both countries have the same number of people and the rate of students going into university in Country Cora is higher, then Cora would have more students in total going to uni.

B. Both countries have the same number of students going into universities.

Incorrect.

This answer choice contradicts the information given in the premises. If both countries have the same number of people and the rate of students going into university in Country Cora is higher, then Cora would have more students in total going to uni.

C. Students will be better off getting education in Country Cora.

Incorrect.

This answer choice goes beyond the premises given, which do not mention the level of education in either country.

Remember that in Inference questions you are asked to take only a small step from the premises.

D. Country Cora has more graduate students than Country Sofia.

Incorrect.

This answer choice goes beyond the premises given. We do not know how many students graduate; we only know that the rate of students going to university is higher in Country Cora.

E. There are fewer university students in Country Sofia than there are in Country Cora.

If the rate of students going to university is higher in Cora than in Sofia, and given that they have the same population, then it can be concluded that the number of students is higher in Cora.

sumitkrocks · Answer

A. Country Sofia has more students going into universities than Country Cora.

Opposite is true -Eliminate

B. Both countries have the same number of students going into universities.

Not true as rates are different

C. Students will be better off getting education in Country Cora.
 Can't infer -Eliminate

D. Country Cora has more graduate students than Country Sofia.
 Not true

E. There are fewer university students in Country Sofia than there are in Country Cora.
 From facts Cora and sofia have same Population, and rate of students going to university is higher in Cora, we can say Option E is most supported among all the options

E is the Right answer IMO

mSKR · Answer

B , C and E are irrelevant .No such information is given / 
For E, it may be possible that students in Sofia could be higher

Out of A and D:

Sofia: 10 (initial number) grown by 10% 11 12.1 13.2….
Cora : 2 (initial) grown by 50% : 3 4.5 6.22 7.22 ….

As the rate of cora has been higher( even initial number was low), number of graduate students would have eventually surpassed the number in country Sofia.

If population is same, it indicates that  number of students in universities in country cora is more.

in summary: growth has already happened, so today number of students in cora could have been higher. Because the number growing with higher rate would surpass at one time the number growing with lower rate even initially the latter number was much higher.

I will mark D with this logic.

However would like to see official answer and official explanation.

winterschool · Answer

In Country Cora, the rate of students going to university has grown and is higher than the rate in Country Sofia even though both countries are equal in size and have the same population.

If the statements above are correct, they most strongly support which of the following?

A. Country Sofia has more students going into universities than Country Cora.  Incorrect

only know same population, cant say about number of students

B. Both countries have the same number of students going into universities.  Incorrect

only know same population, cant say about number of students

C.  Students will be better off getting education in Country Cora.   Correct

this can be say from argument

D. Country Cora has more graduate students than Country Sofia.  Incorrect

dont know about graduate students, only know more students going into universities

E. There are fewer university students in Country Sofia than there are in Country Cora.  Incorrect

only know same population, cant say about number of students

I think Answer C

carouselambra · Answer

Hi,
**editing my answer due to misreading**
Just a pointer but on what basis can we assume that number of students going to the university will ALWAYS convert into graduates?
Rate = Number of students going to the uni / Total students going to uni + not going to uni

Since, we know that the rate is increasing, there can be 2 reasons for that :
1. Either the numerator has increased (i.e. number of students attending the uni)
2. Total population/students have decreased and the numerator has remained the same

(E) is the case here as per point #1 and #2. Numerator has remained the same and the number of uni students in Sopia are fewer than that in Cora. Hence (E) seems a better candidate to me.

Green2k1 · Answer

In Country Cora, the  rate of  students going to university has  grown  and is higher than the rate in Country Sofia even though both countries are equal in size and have the same population.
 Lets consider"
Cora population = 100 = Sofia Population
since no other information is given, let us assume rate has been calculated in terms of population
Cora rate = 10 /100 -> increased to 20 / 100 - no. of university student intake in particular year = 20 - rate has grown over the year
Sofia rate = 5/ 100 -> - no. of university student intake in particular year = 5

If the statements above are correct, they most strongly support which of the following?

A. Country Sofia has more students going into universities than Country Cora.   - Opposite

B. Both countries have the same number of students going into universities.  - Rate is higher and has grown over the years

C. Students will be better off getting education in Country Cora. -  Irrelevant

D. Country Cora has more graduate students than Country Sofia. - We do not have information about graduate student, it is only given "rate of student going to university has increased"
 
E. There are fewer university students in Country Sofia than there are in Country Cora. -  from above example, we can infer that Sofia has fewer university student - CORRECT  - POE

PS: Statement could been framed in better manner to indicate the initial rate in Sofia and Cora

RajatJ79 · Answer

Pre-thinking : Rate of students = Number of students going / Total number of students. It is mention that both countries are equal in size and have the same population. If same population is taken as an indication of similar number of total students.

A. Country Sofia has more students going into universities than Country Cora. --  This is opposite of what statement 1 indicates.  Drop Option A.

B. Both countries have the same number of students going into universities. --  This could have been a possibility if number of total students would have been different, but that's not what the statement indicates.  Drop Option B.

C. Students will be better off getting education in Country Cora. --  Quality of education is not an indication of rate of students going to university.  Drop Option C.

D. Country Cora has more graduate students than Country Sofia. --  Having graduate students and having students going to university are two separate things. If students going to university drop out, graduate students reduce.  Drop Option D.

E. There are fewer university students in Country Sofia than there are in Country Cora. --  By PoE, Option E remains. Also, if population being same in both country is taken as an indication of total student population being same, then Option E is strongly supported by statement.   Keep Option E.

Answer could be Option E.  Awaiting OA.

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

In Country Cora, the rate of students going to university has grown and is higher than the rate in Country Sofia even though both countries are equal in size and have the same population.

If the statements above are correct, they most strongly support which of the following?

A. Country Sofia has more students going into universities than Country Cora. Incorrect

only know same population, cant say about number of students

B. Both countries have the same number of students going into universities. Incorrect

only know same population, cant say about number of students

C. Students will be better off getting education in Country Cora. Correct

this can be say from argument

D. Country Cora has more graduate students than Country Sofia. Incorrect

dont know about graduate students, only know more students going into universities

E. There are fewer university students in Country Sofia than there are in Country Cora. Incorrect

only know same population, cant say about number of students

I think Answer C

Sumi1010 · Answer

I am still not convinced with the official explanation. 
IMO, We can't assume "population" = No. of students in Total (i.e. going to university + not going to university.

Is this an official problem?
 GMATNinja   VeritasKarishma  May I request you to help.

KarishmaB · Answer

Note the question stem: If the statements above are correct, they most strongly support which of the following?

The given statements need to support a conclusion. The conclusion need not be definitely true. The argument needs to "support" it. Think of it as "most likely to be inferred".

The statements in the argument most support option (E) though option (E) may not be "definitely true".

Sumi1010 · Answer

The conclusion need not be definitely true. 
Is it really true? I read from multiple sources and books that in case of inference problems, the answer choice MUST BE TRUE and within the scope of the statements provided. We should not "assume" anything.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In Country Cora, the rate of students going to university has grown an

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