
GMAT sets and counting method questions are important for the GMAT Quant section. These questions test your ability to count, organise, and compare groups of things. You’ll need to know how to count different possibilities, such as how to arrange people, select teams, or organise objects.
You may find these types of questions as stand-alone questions or as part of longer problems, including Data Sufficiency questions. The good news is that with a basic understanding of counting rules, these questions can be manageable. You don’t need advanced math skills, just the ability to follow rules and think logically. You can take a GMAT mock test to understand GMAT sets and counting method questions types.
In this blog, you’ll find simple counting rules, practice questions with answers, and additional problems to help you feel confident before the exam. You’ll also learn about common mistakes students make and some quick strategies to save time.
You only need a few key rules to solve these types of questions. These rules help you count how many different ways something can happen and how to organise information correctly.
You can download the full rules PDF from the link above. Here’s a quick look at the main rules:
| Concept | Formula |
|---|---|
| Basic Counting Principle | If there are m ways of doing one thing and n ways of doing another, the total number of ways of doing both is m × n |
| Permutations | P(n, r) = n! / (n − r)! (number of ways to arrange r objects from n objects) |
| Combinations | C(n, r) = n! / (r!(n − r)!) (number of ways to choose r objects from n objects) |
| Factorial | n! = n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) × ... × 1 |
| Complementary Counting | Total number of outcomes − number of unfavorable outcomes |
| Inclusion-Exclusion Principle | |A ∪ B| = |A| + |B| − |A ∩ B| (for two sets A and B) |
| Counting Subsets | 2^n (number of subsets of a set with n elements) |
These rules are useful for counting how many ways things can happen, grouping objects, or comparing different sets. You'll see these rules in problems involving teams, selections, and organising data.
Many students lose marks because of small mistakes in counting and set problems. These mistakes often happen when you rush or misunderstand how to apply the rules.
Here are the most common mistakes to watch out for:
Here’s a list of GMAT-style sets and counting method questions to help you practice. These questions cover all the main types of permutations, combinations, inclusion-exclusion, and set theory. Practicing these will help you become faster and more accurate on your GMAT exam.
In how many ways can we arrange the letters of the word 'EDUCATION' so that the word always starts with a vowel and ends with a consonant?
correct answer:- 1
A committee of six members is to be formed from four trainees, five professors and six helpers. In how many ways can this be done if the committee is to have all five professors and one helper, or all four trainees and two professors?
correct answer:- 1
A committee of six members is to be formed from four trainees, five professors and six helpers. In how many ways can this be done if the committee is to have at least three trainees and at most one professor?
correct answer:- 3
How many 3-letter words with or without meaning can be formed by using all the letters of the word ‘LOGARITHMS’, if repetition of letters is not allowed?
correct answer:- 2
In how many different ways can the letters of the word “SCHOOL” be arranged?
correct answer:- 1
In how many different ways can the letters of the word "QUESTION" be arranged?
correct answer:- 3
How many different ways can the letters of the word SECURITY be arranged?
correct answer:- 4
In how many ways can the letters of the word “MASTER” be arranged?
correct answer:- 1
How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “VICTORY” so that no two vowels come together?
correct answer:- 2
In how many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “TARGET”?
correct answer:- 4
In how many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “VOCABULARY”?
correct answer:- 1
How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “PUNCTUAL”?
correct answer:- 1
How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “CARING” so that no two vowels come together?
correct answer:- 3
How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “COURAGE”?
correct answer:- 2
How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “PRESENT”?
correct answer:- 1
In how many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “NATION” ?
correct answer:- 2
A bag contains 4 red balls, 6 green balls and 2 black balls. If two marbles are drawn randomly, what is the probability that both are red?
correct answer:- 5
A committee of five members is to be formed out of 3 trainees, 4 professors, and 6 research associates. In how many different ways can this be done if the committee has 2 trainees and 3 research associates?
correct answer:- 3
How many different ways can the letters of the word BEATLE be arranged?
correct answer:- 2
How many different ways can the letters of BANKING be arranged?
correct answer:- 2
How many different ways can the letters of the word 'DOORS' be arranged?
correct answer:- 5
How many ways can the letters of the word 'SUPERB' be arranged?
correct answer:- 2
How many ways can the letters of the word ‘ARITHMETIC’ be arranged so that all the vowels are together?
correct answer:- 2
Find the number of ways in which 10 people can be selected to form a committee from a group of 10 men and 10 women?
correct answer:- 4
Find the number of ways of arranging the first 5 whole numbers without repetition so that they form a 5-digit number?
correct answer:- 4
Find the number of ways of arranging the letters of the word RECTANGLE such that 2 E's are always together?
correct answer:- 3
At a party, each person shakes hands with every other person. If there are 36 handshakes in total, find the number of people who attended the party.
correct answer:- 1
How many ways can the letters of the word “HYDERABAD” be arranged so that all vowels are together?
correct answer:- 4
What would be the rank of the word ALARM in a dictionary made up of all the possible permutations of the letters of the word?
correct answer:- 1
How many ways can the letters of INFINITY be arranged so that the I's always stay together?
correct answer:- 1
From the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, what is the number of ways a four-digit number with distinct digits that is a multiple of 12 can be formed?
correct answer:- 3
In how many ways can the letters of the word COMMUNICATION be arranged?
correct answer:- 4
The coach wants to select the playing 11 from the squad of 16 players. The squad has 6 batsmen, 2 wicket keepers, 5 bowlers and 3 all-rounders. If the coach wants to include 5 batsmen, 1 wicket keeper, 2 all-rounders and 3 bowlers in the playing 11, then find the number of ways he can select the team?
correct answer:- 5
How many ways can 4 men and 2 women be seated around a circular table so the 2 females don’t sit next to each other?
correct answer:- 4
How many four-digit even numbers can be formed with the digits 5, 9, 4, 1, 3? (Repetitions are allowed)
correct answer:- 4
A dice is rolled thrice. What is the number of possibilities in which the sum of outcomes of the first three attempts is exactly equal to 15?
correct answer:- 3
A team of 11 players requires 3 bowlers out of 5 available, 1 keeper out of 3 available, 4 batsmen out of 7 available, 3 all-rounders out of 4 available. In how many ways can a team be made?
correct answer:- 5
A burglar trying to disarm an alarm system notices that four numbers on the keypad 3,5,6, and 8, have faded more than the others. Guessing these four numbers are part of the 4-digit security key, he tries different combinations to break in. What is the maximum number of attempts he would need?
correct answer:- 4
Ramesh gives a multiple-choice test with 3 questions, each offering +3 for a correct answer and -1 for an incorrect answer. If his accuracy at answering any question is 0.3, what is the expected score? He attempts all the questions.
correct answer:- 2
All the possible 3 digit numbers are formed from the number 13579. What is the expected value of the sum of the digits?
correct answer:- 4
GMAT sets and counting methods are techniques used to determine the number of possible outcomes in a problem. This includes permutations, combinations, and set theory.
Permutations are used when the order of selection matters, while combinations are used when order does not matter.
The Inclusion-Exclusion Principle is used to avoid double-counting in overlapping sets. You subtract the overlap from the total number of possibilities.
Complementary counting involves calculating the total number of possibilities and subtracting the unwanted outcomes to find the number of desired outcomes.
Common mistakes include confusing permutations and combinations, incorrectly using factorials, and forgetting to apply the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle.