GMAT Question of the Day – Problem Solving – Ratio

A total of 40% of the students who participated in an academic survey of high school students were graduating with honors. 15% of the students who said that they planned to attend a 4 year university were graduating with honors. What is the ratio of the percent of honors students who plan to attend a 4 year university to the percent of non-honors students who plan to attend a 4 year university?

A. 9/34

B. 11/34

C. 15/37

D. 16/37

E. 18/37

[spoiler]A.[/spoiler]

GMAT Question of the Day Solution:

This is a great candidate for picking numbers. Why? You are given a bunch of proportions in the question and then the answers are also in proportions. So you can set the value for how many students you have in total and how many plan on attending a 4 year university. After the numbers are set filling in the details should be relatively simple. When dealing with percents it helps to pick numbers that are multiples of 100. Also – remember to simplify as much as possible before doing any multiplication. The GMAT tends to give opportunities to simplify any labor intensive calculations so it’s a good idea to pause before making any big moves.