A study of recent Pemberton College graduates found that those whose

Question

A study of recent Pemberton College graduates found that those whose daily class schedules began before 10:00am began their careers with salaries that were nearly 20% higher than their counterparts whose class schedules began later in the day. Clearly those self-disciplined enough to wake up early for classes are seen as more employable than those who are unwilling to wake up early.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?

A. At Pemberton College, the majors for which average starting salaries are the highest are finance and engineering, each of which has core classes that are only offered at 8:30 and 9:30am.

B. Many lucrative careers, such as those in technology and graphic design, allow employees to begin their workdays at an hour of their choosing.

C. Many Pemberton College students pay their tuition by working part-time jobs that require extensive evening hours.

D. The dining halls at Pemberton College only serve breakfast until 10:00am on days when classes are in session.

E. Pemberton College’s career center only offers on-campus interview sessions in the mornings, so that students’ afternoons are free for extracurricular activities and part-time employment.

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Matthyrou · Answer

Hey everyone, for me, it's A. Let me explain; A is giving an argument other than the self discipline (so weakening this argument) to agree on the insight given by the text (That people starting earlier is earning more money). as the matter of fact, It's written that eingering and finance are topics where base on the average, you'll earn the most, and these courses are only availble before 10am. To be sure i also, like i'm advising to everybody, gto read off the other questions, and voilaaa, wish a wonderfull gmat day to everybody

kalpak8 · Answer

Option A is correct as it provides another reason for a higher salary for 10 am classes.

Bismuth83 · Answer

1. We are given the argument that  "those whose daily class schedules began before 10:00 am began their careers with salaries that were nearly 20% higher than their counterparts whose class schedules began later in the day" . The conclusion is that  "those self-disciplined enough to wake up early for classes are seen as more employable than those who are unwilling to wake up early" . We need to  find the best statement that weakens the argument .

2.  At Pemberton College, the majors for which average starting salaries are the highest are finance and engineering, each of which has core classes that are only offered at 8:30 and 9:30 am.  It can be inferred that the choice of major, rather than the discipline of waking up early, has higher starting salaries. That weakens the argument by providing an alternate explanation for the higher salaries.   So, this statement weakens the argument.

3.  Many lucrative careers, such as those in technology and graphic design, allow employees to begin their workdays at an hour of their choosing.  While this means that not all high-paying jobs require early schedules, it doesn't directly go against the statement about early classes leading to higher salaries.   So, this statement does not weaken the argument significantly.

4.  Many Pemberton College students pay their tuition by working part-time jobs that require extensive evening hours.  Here, it does not go against the connection between early class schedules and employability.   So, this statement does not weaken the argument.

5.  The dining halls at Pemberton College only serve breakfast until 10:00 am on days when classes are in session.  This is unrelated to the argument.   So, this statement does not weaken the argument.

6.  Pemberton College’s career center only offers on-campus interview sessions in the mornings, so that students’ afternoons are free for extracurricular activities and part-time employment.  While this explains why students with morning classes may have more access to interviews, it does not weaken the claim that early class schedules are a signal of self-discipline and employability.   So, this statement does not weaken the argument.

prantorboni · Answer

A study of recent Pemberton College graduates found that those whose daily class schedules began before 10:00am began their careers with salaries that were nearly 20% higher than their counterparts whose class schedules began later in the day. Clearly those self-disciplined enough to wake up early for classes are seen as more employable than those who are unwilling to wake up early.

A. At Pemberton College, the majors for which average starting salaries are the highest are finance and engineering, each of which has core classes that are only offered at 8:30 and 9:30am.

Option, A clearly states that attending classes at 8:30 and 9:30 am is not self-disciplined.

Answer: A.

Bunuel · Answer

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

When the conclusion of a Weaken question is an explanation of some sort (here "the reason for these salary statistics is likely self-discipline"), your radar for correlation-vs.-causation should be on high alert - the right answer is likely an alternative explanation for that fact ("no, it's that these early risers are self-disciplined, it's that something else causes the salary difference.")

Here choice (A) supplies that alternative explanation: if the majors that lead to the highest salaries are those that require earlier classes, then the schedule - not the self-discipline - is the cause. Choice (A) is therefore correct.

Among the other choices:

(B) attempts to weaken the facts given in the argument ("hey but some lucrative careers don't require you to get up early") but remember that in Critical Reasoning you're stuck with the facts - the only thing you can attack is the conclusion. So here the only thing "attackable" is the explanation for the higher salaries for those with earlier classes, not the fact that those with earlier classes end up, on average, with higher salaries.

(C) misses the goal of the argument altogether. Whether some students stay up late working to pay tuition is immaterial to the facts that those with early classes end up with higher salaries on average.

(D) is also out of the scope of the argument/conclusion - if anything it might strengthen the general idea that lower salaries are a result of low self-discipline (if you can't get out of bed for either class or breakfast what's wrong with you?!) but even that is a loose connection.

And (E) misses the scope of the argument by replacing early classes with early interviews; the argument is about classes, so this choice misses the mark.

A study of recent Pemberton College graduates found that those whose

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A study of recent Pemberton College graduates found that those whose

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