According to enrollment statistics published by U.S. medical schools

Question

According to the enrollment statistics published by U.S. medical schools,  the number of female medical students is equivalent to the number of male medical students currently enrolled in medical school

A. the number of female medical students is equivalent to the number of male medical students currently enrolled in medical school

B. as many female as male students are currently enrolled in medical school

C. the number of female students is as many as that of male students

D. as great as the number of female is the number of male students currently enrolled in medical school

E. female and male students are currently enrolled in equal numbers in medical school

vad3tha · Accepted Answer

Equivalent is used for non-countable noun ( equivalent in amount, value...). A is incorrect. As for C, The number..... as many as.... the number, we cannot use the number together with "many"--> C is incorrect. D and E are awkward. B is the most idiomatic in this case. " as many as". So B is the answer.

bb61 · Answer

NEW PROJECT!: Renew Old Thread => Back to basic => Give your explanation- Get Kudos Point

According to enrollment statistics published by U.S. medical schools,  the number of female medical students is equivalent to the number of male medical students currently enrolled in medical school 
a) the number of female medical students is equivalent to the number of male medical students currently enrolled in medical school
b) as many female as male students are currently enrolled in medical school
c) the number of female students is as many as that of male students
d) as great as the number of female is the number of male students currently enrolled in medical school
e) female and male students are currently enrolled in equal numbers in medical school A) the number cannot be equivalent to the other number.
the number of x is equal to the number of Y.
 C)  number+many--> redundancy
 D)  as great as, equivalent to----> used with uncountable nouns
 E)  female and male students enrolled in equal number-----> seems that equal number is the name of a major!

arun6765 · Answer

equivalent in A makes it little awkward.

equivalent means a a person or thing equal to another in value, measure, force or effect.

in A if in place of equivalent, equal was used then this might be a valid option.

Correct me if I am wrong.

syedazeem3 · Answer

Correct me if I’m wrong - “the number of female students...the number of male students currently enrolled..” isn’t a proper comparison, hence A is wrong.

B - is a proper comparison with amount of “male students vs female students” and as..as idiom use is proper as well.

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souvik101990 · Answer

You are right, partly. Numbers cannot be equivalent to each other. We use the word equivalent to show a large degree of similarity.

For example,

The amount of time I spent on preparing for the GMAT is equivalent to that spent on learning how to code.

This is fine because time is a non-countable quantity.

However if you say something like:

The number of hours I spent on preparing for the GMAT is equivalent to that spent on learning how to code.

This is NOT correct.

5 cannot be equivalent to 5 or 5.0000001

5 must be equal to 5 and unequal to 6.

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The initial sentence is certainly wordy, but look for specific problems that you can fix. Let's start with the terms describing the number. You're given several options: the number... is equivalent to, as many female as male students, the number... is as many as, as great as the number..., and the students are enrolled in equal numbers. Options (C) and (D) are grammatically incorrect because each uses the wrong idiom to describe the number. None of the remaining choices is grammatically incorrect, so focus on their expression. Answer choice (B) is clearly the most succinct option, and since it is still faithful to the original meaning of the sentence, it is the correct choice as well.

AKY13 · Answer

Hi Bunuel

"B. as many female as male students are currently enrolled in medical school"

However I found B tempting, I found a very subtle flaw. In B, it seems like "the number of male students" are being compared with "the number of female(not female students)". I have found similar traps in 700-800 level questions. 
Will "students" be considered followed by "female" as well ? What is the rule for this.

Sorry if I seem to be fretting about small things!

NinetyFour · Answer

Incorrectly selected E. Please let me know why my though process is incorrect.

A) The number of female medical students is compared to the number of medical students enrolled in medical school. We do not know if the number of female students is the total number of students in HISTORY or or the total number enrolled now.
B) As many female AS male students, sounds like female is being compared to male. 
C) Removing "currently enrolled" changes meaning. 
D) As great as the number is incorrect. It should be as many as X students.
E) Correct.

AKY13 · Answer

Dear Gurus,

"B. as many female as male students are currently enrolled in medical school"

However I found B tempting, I found a very subtle flaw. In B, it seems like "the number of male students" are being compared with "the number of female(not female students)". I have found similar traps in 700-800 level questions. 
Will "students" be considered followed by "female" as well ? What is the rule for this.

TheNightKing · Answer

I don't think it is incorrect. Yes I agree the meaning is very restricted and precise. 
In the mentioned statement, The number of hours is exactly the same. The person spent exact number of hours on preparation of GMAT and on learning how to code. (Like literal comparison).

Just like saying: I have fewer than 20$ in my pocket, meaning I have literally less than 20$ bills in my pocket.

generis  sorry to tag you. Can you confirm? or any other expert?

Thank you!

vaibhav1221 · Answer

Another reason why A is wrong is because it is redundant. There are only medical students in a medical school. Therefore, saying that  the number of female medical students is equal to the number of male medical students in the medical school  becomes redundant and renders the choice incorrect.

avikroy · Answer

Though I chose B as the option. ....Had difficulty eliminating E..........Can someone clarify the issue with E other than awkwardness??

Basshead · Answer

A has incorrect use of ‘equivalent’.

B looks good. Keep.

C meaning is unclear.

D ‘as great as’ is incorrect.

E. ‘equal numbers’ is incorrect

Answer is B.

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pg03 · Answer

GMATNinja ,

can you please explain how can we elimiate E?

TIA

arbazfatmi1994 · Answer

Why is E incorrect? Can anyone help me out here? Numbers can be equal, right? I don't see any idiomatic errors either.

Sroy1 · Answer

Hello AKY13

Here in this question comparison is being made between enroled female and male ( students).so no ambiguity is there in answear choice B.

Now for your concern if the answear is instead be written as

"as many female as male students currently enroled are in medical school" 
..Then comparison will be between total female in the medical scool and total male students currently enroled in medical school. In the later case meaning will be different.

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According to enrollment statistics published by U.S. medical schools

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According to enrollment statistics published by U.S. medical schools

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