There are two idioms involved here:

1. as likely as

2. more likely than

There is a subtle meaning difference between the two. Look at the usage below to understand,

Women Are Nearly Three Times as Likely as Men to Report They Would Give Up GMAT for a Year if They Could Lose Weight.

Here two genders are being compared. Now look at the following construction.

A Stock market crash is more likely than a new recession.

Here completely different subjects are being compared which do not seem to be related directly.

In context of the question since we are comparing between two distinct types of graduates, 'as likely as' seems more appropriate, hence C.

Experts, please advise..

Even i went for A!

any comment on this one friends?

blow the mind.. really tough one.

i was also confused

D) wrong more likely .... rather than bad construction

A) X are nearly four times more likely than are Y in planning to practice
should be good if
X are nearly four times more likely than Y are in planning to practice

but that's still bad ...see the sentence as
minority graduates are ...likely ... in planning to practice !! bad

B) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than other graduates who plan on practicing
X are nearly four times more likely than Y who plan on practicing ...are is missing here ..though we can assume "ARE" here but still bad construction

C) minority graduates are nearly four times as likely as other graduates to plan on practicing
X are nearly four times as likely as Y to plan on practicing ....looks good isnt it ?

minority graduates ...likely ... to plan on practicing

E) as likely than wrong

From grammar point of view likely should be followed by "to"

HTH...

sumit

PS : don't assume my SC knowledge is good, i just read some very good replies from Grammar gurus on various GMAT forum and still doing the same.

I found some information in following link, this is little convincing.

https://www.urch.com/forums/gmat-sentenc ... ly-as.html

I think the difference between AS LIKELY AS and MORE LIKELY THAN is in that as likely as should be used when you compare equal things, for ex., He is as likely to go to the cinema as I am. What you are saying here is that the probability of his going to the cinema is equal to that of me.

When you are saying more likely than, you give preference to one thing over another. For example, I am more likely to get a date with that girl than he is. (=My chances of getting that girl on a date are higher than his).

I am also not good at SC.

Cheers,
SVD

According to a survey of graduating medical students conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges, minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice in socioeconomically deprived areas.

(A) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice
(B) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than other graduates who plan on practicing
(C) minority graduates are nearly four times as likely as other graduates to plan on practicing
(D) it is nearly four times more likely that minority graduates rather than other graduates will plan to practice
(E) it is nearly four times as likely for minority graduates than other graduates to plan to practice

I feel C is the answer
minority graduates are nearly four times as likely as other graduates to plan on practicing
Verb 'plan' is better than 'Planning'
A- uses planning
B- is a fragment, not a complete sentence
D- nearly and more ... awkward
E-'as likely ...' it should 'as likely as'
Whats the OA