Community College Enrollment by Program, Fall Semesters(Number of Students)Program2021202220232024Nursing186203215228Engineering142167189201Business29...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
(Number of Students)
| Program | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing | 186 | 203 | 215 | 228 |
| Engineering | 142 | 167 | 189 | 201 |
| Business | 298 | 276 | 284 | 292 |
A college administrator is developing a student enrollment summary for the board of trustees. The administrator must determine the number of students registered in the Engineering program for the fall 2023 semester. After examining the data table, the administrator concludes that this figure is ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
167.
215.
189.
201.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Community College Enrollment by Program, Fall Semesters (Number of Students)" |
|
| Table headers: Program, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
|
| Nursing: 186, 203, 215, 228 |
|
| Engineering: 142, 167, 189, 201 |
|
| Business: 298, 276, 284, 292 |
|
| "A college administrator is developing a student enrollment summary for the board of trustees." |
|
| "The administrator must determine the number of students registered in the Engineering program for the fall 2023 semester." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: A data table shows community college enrollment by program from 2021-2024, and an administrator needs to find the Engineering program enrollment figure for fall 2023.
Argument Flow: The passage presents enrollment data in tabular form, then describes a scenario where an administrator needs to extract one specific data point from this table for a board report.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? We need to complete the administrator's conclusion by finding the correct enrollment figure for Engineering in fall 2023.
What type of answer do we need? A specific numerical value from the data table.
Any limiting keywords? The key constraints are "Engineering program" and "fall 2023 semester" - we need the exact intersection of these two criteria.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The answer must be the exact number from the Engineering row for the 2023 column
- Looking at our table analysis, Engineering enrollment in 2023 was 189 students
- This is a straightforward data lookup - no calculations or interpretations needed
- The number should show the growth pattern we identified (142 to 167 to 189 to 201)
- So the right answer should be 189, representing the Engineering program enrollment for fall 2023
167.
✗ Incorrect
- This is the Engineering enrollment for 2022, not 2023
- Easy mistake if you look at the wrong column
- What trap this represents: Reading the wrong year column - a common error when scanning data tables quickly
215.
✗ Incorrect
- This is the Nursing enrollment for 2023, not Engineering
- Shows the right year but wrong program
- What trap this represents: Reading the wrong row - mixing up programs when scanning horizontally across the table
189.
✓ Correct
- This is exactly the Engineering enrollment for fall 2023
- Matches our prethinking perfectly
- Located at the intersection of Engineering row and 2023 column
201.
✗ Incorrect
- This is the Engineering enrollment for 2024, not 2023
- Right program but future year
- What trap this represents: Reading one column too far right - another timing error when scanning the table