Springfield Community College offers free online course previews that allow prospective students to sample lectures and materials before enrollment. W...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Springfield Community College offers free online course previews that allow prospective students to sample lectures and materials before enrollment. When the college first introduced these previews in 2018, some faculty members worried that students who viewed the online content would then consider campus attendance unnecessary. However, enrollment data from the past three years suggests that these concerns were unfounded.
Which statement, if true, would most directly support this conclusion?
Most prospective students who viewed the online previews lived more than fifty miles from the Springfield campus.
Many prospective students reported that the online previews motivated them to enroll in on-campus courses.
Most prospective students who enrolled at Springfield were unaware that online previews were available.
Many current students reported that they would likely use the online previews to review material after completing their courses.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Springfield Community College offers free online course previews that allow prospective students to sample lectures and materials before enrollment.' |
|
| 'When the college first introduced these previews in 2018, some faculty members worried that students who viewed the online content would then consider campus attendance unnecessary.' |
|
| 'However, enrollment data from the past three years suggests that these concerns were unfounded.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Three years of enrollment data shows that faculty concerns about online previews reducing campus attendance were wrong.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- For the faculty concern to be 'unfounded,' we need evidence showing that online previews didn't reduce campus enrollment or actually helped with campus enrollment
- The strongest support would show that previews actually encouraged rather than discouraged campus enrollment
Most prospective students who viewed the online previews lived more than fifty miles from the Springfield campus.
✗ Incorrect
- This tells us about students' locations relative to campus but doesn't address whether previews affected their enrollment decisions
Many prospective students reported that the online previews motivated them to enroll in on-campus courses.
✓ Correct
- Shows that previews actually motivated students to enroll in on-campus courses
- This directly contradicts the faculty worry that previews would make students consider campus attendance unnecessary
Most prospective students who enrolled at Springfield were unaware that online previews were available.
✗ Incorrect
- This suggests most enrolled students didn't even know about previews
- If students weren't aware of previews, this doesn't tell us whether previews affected enrollment decisions
Many current students reported that they would likely use the online previews to review material after completing their courses.
✗ Incorrect
- This is about students using previews after completing courses, not before enrolling
- Post-enrollment review doesn't address whether previews affected initial enrollment decisions