IMO A

IMHO the answer is A

Here's why

(A) the original sentence uses semicolon correctly (both sides of the semicolon are independent clauses). The part after semicolon maybe difficult to discern. I used the following procedure : eliminate all adjectives, non-restrictive mofifiers, adverbs etc. We get Students (subject) may choose (verb) to join ... and earn ...

Keep in mind the meaning of the sentence. The sentence conveys uncertainty by using may (MGMAT SC guide says may,could convey uncertainty whereas will and should indicate certainty and moral obligation respectively)

(B) meaning issue (students actually choose vs they may choose). Another issue : it joins 2 Independent clauses by using commas ( a run on sentence). Therefore, eliminate B.

(C) as OG says use such for examples and like for comparison. You can't use like for 2 reasons here : firstly, the original sentence does not intend to compare students to anyone. secondly, it illogically compares rising cost to students ( remember we can only compare costs to costs and students to students). Eliminate C

(D) Although D corrects the issue in C ( usage of like vs such as), it makes another error i.e certainty vs uncertainty. D says students are actually choosing vs could be choosing.

(E) E is clearly out for the reason I stated in A. Both sides of a semicolon must be independent clauses, but the part after semicolon is a relative clause.


What is OA?

rishab1988 wrote:IMHO the answer is A

Here's why

(A) the original sentence uses semicolon correctly (both sides of the semicolon are independent clauses). The part after semicolon maybe difficult to discern. I used the following procedure : eliminate all adjectives, non-restrictive mofifiers, adverbs etc. We get Students (subject) may choose (verb) to join ... and earn ...

Keep in mind the meaning of the sentence. The sentence conveys uncertainty by using may (MGMAT SC guide says may,could convey uncertainty whereas will and should indicate certainty and moral obligation respectively)

(B) meaning issue (students actually choose vs they may choose). Another issue : it joins 2 Independent clauses by using commas ( a run on sentence). Therefore, eliminate B.

(C) as OG says use such for examples and like for comparison. You can't use like for 2 reasons here : firstly, the original sentence does not intend to compare students to anyone. secondly, it illogically compares rising cost to students ( remember we can only compare costs to costs and students to students). Eliminate C

(D) Although D corrects the issue in C ( usage of like vs such as), it makes another error i.e certainty vs uncertainty. D says students are actually choosing vs could be choosing.

(E) E is clearly out for the reason I stated in A. Both sides of a semicolon must be independent clauses, but the part after semicolon is a relative clause.


What is OA?

OA is A. Thanks for the detailed answer.
I went ahead with parallelism - join and earn are parallel while choosing and taking are parallel. However, your reasoning seems logical.