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MBA- a waste? - Assumption

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by kanha81 » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:28 pm
David is a 26 year old, very successful entrepreneur and he argues that money and time invested in acquiring a degree in management administration are totally wasted. As evidence supporting his view, he recounts the story of his brother who, at a considerable expense of money and time, completed his MBA at a top tier business school and then married an heiress and abandoned a promising career to stay at home and care for their children.

David makes unsupported assumption that

A) what was unacceptable to the previous generation has no hope of being embraced today

B) marriage with children can not be as fulfilling as lifelong bachelorhood

C) professional success is a function of the quality of one's formal education

D) an education in management administration is useful only in pursuing career-related activities.

E) a MBA has lost the prestige and weight it once carried in the world of business.
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |
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by yogami » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:48 pm
Dude if this was so true then MBA will seriously go down ;), GMAC will be on the streets and there will be no BTG anymore. Anyways who will back off from marrying a hot heiress!!.
I will go with D through POE. But please do include the OA
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by vinayakdl » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:54 pm
IMO Answer: C

Reasoning:
A, B and E seem irrelevant.

C: the first sentence in Stimuli gives and indication that David is thinking of his management degree to help him in professional life/business. His Brothers example confuses his assumption.
D: David is trying to evaluate need for MBA for advances in professional life. I think even though he gives his brothers example first sentence gives better clues to his reasoning.

find C and D very close. Good one Kanha81!

Please post OA?

Vinayak
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Re: MBA- a waste? - Assumption

by amazonviper » Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:01 pm
kanha81 wrote:David is a 26 year old, very successful entrepreneur and he argues that money and time invested in acquiring a degree in management administration are totally wasted. As evidence supporting his view, he recounts the story of his brother who, at a considerable expense of money and time, completed his MBA at a top tier business school and then married an heiress and abandoned a promising career to stay at home and care for their children.

David makes unsupported assumption that

A) what was unacceptable to the previous generation has no hope of being embraced today

B) marriage with children can not be as fulfilling as lifelong bachelorhood

C) professional success is a function of the quality of one's formal education

D) an education in management administration is useful only in pursuing career-related activities.

E) a MBA has lost the prestige and weight it once carried in the world of business.
IMO D. C talks more about professional success. Clearly the assumption is related to the fact that MBA was only useful in career related activities a not personal life related activities.
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by schumi_gmat » Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:21 pm
We are discussing career in the argument and not professional success. Hence D is correct.

C talks about professional success which is out of scope for the argument.
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by mehravikas » Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:35 pm
IMO - C
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Re: MBA- a waste? - Assumption

by vinaynp » Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:57 pm
kanha81 wrote:David is a 26 year old, very successful entrepreneur and he argues that money and time invested in acquiring a degree in management administration are totally wasted. As evidence supporting his view, he recounts the story of his brother who, at a considerable expense of money and time, completed his MBA at a top tier business school and then married an heiress and abandoned a promising career to stay at home and care for their children.

David makes unsupported assumption that

A) what was unacceptable to the previous generation has no hope of being embraced today

B) marriage with children can not be as fulfilling as lifelong bachelorhood

C) professional success is a function of the quality of one's formal education

D) an education in management administration is useful only in pursuing career-related activities.

E) a MBA has lost the prestige and weight it once carried in the world of business.
IMO D) by POE.

A), B), and E) are out of scope.

C) Professional Success is not talked about.

D) MBA teaches much more than pursuing career-related activities :). Hence, Correct.
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by Domnu » Thu Jun 11, 2009 2:20 pm
I agree with D as well. Here's why:

A: previous generation? It sounds like David is in our generation.

B: Marriage versus bachelorhood isn't mentioned; there aren't any bachelors in the given passage.

C: Though David is now successful, he is not at all successful professionally. David doesn't state anywhere that the more education you get, the more successful you will be; all he states was that an MBA is useless; he may say that a PhD is much more useful, for example.

D: it may be possible that his MBA will help him raise his children. David's argument is that because he stays at home, an MBA is useless.

E: Irrelevant.
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by shark » Thu Jun 11, 2009 2:33 pm
IMO, D.
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Re: MBA- a waste? - Assumption

by joyseychow » Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:10 pm
kanha81 wrote:David is a 26 year old, very successful entrepreneur and he argues that money and time invested in acquiring a degree in management administration are totally wasted. As evidence supporting his view, he recounts the story of his brother who, at a considerable expense of money and time, completed his MBA at a top tier business school and then married an heiress and abandoned a promising career to stay at home and care for their children.

David makes unsupported assumption that

A) what was unacceptable to the previous generation has no hope of being embraced today

B) marriage with children can not be as fulfilling as lifelong bachelorhood

C) professional success is a function of the quality of one's formal education

D) an education in management administration is useful only in pursuing career-related activities.

E) a MBA has lost the prestige and weight it once carried in the world of business.

What an example! Hope no one has been deterred by this :lol:
I'm definitely going for D. It's the most relevant one.
Good one kanha81!
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by tohellandback » Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:45 pm
IMO D.
The powers of two are bloody impolite!!
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by turbo jet » Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:36 am
IMO: D
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by vinayakdl » Fri Jun 12, 2009 5:10 am
Kanha81 Can you please OA?
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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Fri Jun 12, 2009 5:17 am
vinayakdl wrote:Kanha81 Can you please OA?
C is wrong because his conclusion is that an MBA is a waste of time and money. The stimulus states that he is a successful entrepreneur. Therefore, he is not making the assumption that professional success is a function of one's degree or education because he is successful without an MBA and his conclusion is that obtaining the degree is a waste of time and money. The clear answer is D. Really go through the LSAT Logical Reasoning Bible I sent you. It is thorough and the LSAT questions are harder so they make these easier to do.
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by vinayakdl » Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:37 am
osirus0830 wrote:
vinayakdl wrote:Kanha81 Can you please OA?
C is wrong because his conclusion is that an MBA is a waste of time and money. The stimulus states that he is a successful entrepreneur. Therefore, he is not making the assumption that professional success is a function of one's degree or education because he is successful without an MBA and his conclusion is that obtaining the degree is a waste of time and money. The clear answer is D. Really go through the LSAT Logical Reasoning Bible I sent you. It is thorough and the LSAT questions are harder so they make these easier to do.
Thanks osirus0830
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