GMAT Question of the Day – Problem Solving – Overlapping Sets/Probability

In a certain political party, 64 percent of the participants are female. 75 percent of the male and half of the female participants are less than 40 years old. If one participant is randomly selected, what is the probability that he or she will be more than 39 years old?

A. .28

B. .34

C. .38

D. .41

E. .52

[spoiler]D.[/spoiler]

GMAT Question of the Day Solution

This is a basic GMAT overlapping sets question that takes things up a notch in difficulty by using proportions rather than real numbers. Whenever you are solving a question which gives you proportions you can choose your own numbers. If you are working with percents it is generally convenient to pick 100 for the total. Once you do that filling in the 2 group matrix should be straight forward. This question has another layer: probability. In this case though the probability portion is very simple. Just think specific scenario (people 40 or older, 41) divided by total (100).

What can go wrong with GMAT overlapping sets questions

1. You may do an overlapping sets question only to find that you’re answer isn’t in the choices. Don’t panic. You probably put a piece of information in the wrong box. Double check that you are interpreting the question correctly.

2. Your answer choice is there! Great. Well – maybe not. Double check what you are solving for. Often times there will be an answer choice that is a correct value but does not correspond with what you are meant to solve.