GMAT Sets and Counting Method Questions With Solutions PDF

GMAT Sets and Counting Method Questions 2025

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.

Key Rules for GMAT Sets and Counting Method

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:

ConceptFormula
Basic Counting PrincipleIf 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
PermutationsP(n, r) = n! / (n − r)! (number of ways to arrange r objects from n objects)
CombinationsC(n, r) = n! / (r!(n − r)!) (number of ways to choose r objects from n objects)
Factorialn! = n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) × ... × 1
Complementary CountingTotal number of outcomes − number of unfavorable outcomes
Inclusion-Exclusion Principle|A ∪ B| = |A| + |B| − |A ∩ B| (for two sets A and B)
Counting Subsets2^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.

Top 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid in GMAT Sets and Counting Method Questions

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:

  • Forgetting the difference between Permutations and Combinations: If order matters (like arranging people), use permutations. If order doesn’t matter (like choosing people), use combinations.

  • Confusing “AND” vs. “OR” when Counting: When events happen together, use "AND" and multiply possibilities. When events can happen separately, use "OR" and add possibilities.

  • Not Using the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle Correctly: If two groups overlap, make sure to subtract the overlap. Otherwise, you’ll count the same outcomes twice.

  • Ignoring Restrictions: Always check if the problem has restrictions (like choosing from certain groups or no repeats). These can affect your count.

  • Using Factorial or Combinatorics Formulas Incorrectly: Be careful with formulas like n! (factorial) or combinations (nCr). If you apply them incorrectly, you might get the wrong answer.

List of GMAT Sets and Counting Method Questions

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.

Question 1

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?

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Question 2

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?

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Question 3

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?

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Question 4

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?

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Question 5

In how many different ways can the letters of the word “SCHOOL” be arranged?

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Question 6

In how many different ways can the letters of the word "QUESTION" be arranged?

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Question 7

How many different ways can the letters of the word SECURITY be arranged?

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Question 8

In how many ways can the letters of the word “MASTER” be arranged?

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Question 9

How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “VICTORY” so that no two vowels come together?

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Question 10

In how many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “TARGET”?

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Question 11

In how many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “VOCABULARY”?

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Question 12

How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “PUNCTUAL”?

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Question 13

How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “CARING” so that no two vowels come together?

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Question 14

How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “COURAGE”?

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Question 15

How many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “PRESENT”?

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Question 16

In how many ways can we arrange the letters of the word “NATION” ?

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Question 17

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?

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Question 18

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?

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Question 19

How many different ways can the letters of the word BEATLE be arranged?

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Question 20

How many different ways can the letters of BANKING be arranged?

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Question 21

How many different ways can the letters of the word 'DOORS' be arranged?

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Question 22

How many ways can the letters of the word 'SUPERB' be arranged?

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Question 23

How many ways can the letters of the word ‘ARITHMETIC’ be arranged so that all the vowels are together?

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Question 24

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?

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Question 25

Find the number of ways of arranging the first 5 whole numbers without repetition so that they form a 5-digit number?

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Question 26

Find the number of ways of arranging the letters of the word RECTANGLE such that 2 E's are always together?

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Question 27

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.

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Question 28

How many ways can the letters of the word “HYDERABAD” be arranged so that all vowels are together?

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Question 29

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?

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Question 30

How many ways can the letters of INFINITY be arranged so that the I's always stay together?

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Question 31

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?

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Question 32

In how many ways can the letters of the word COMMUNICATION be arranged?

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Question 33

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?

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Question 34

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?

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Question 35

How many four-digit even numbers can be formed with the digits 5, 9, 4, 1, 3? (Repetitions are allowed)

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Question 36

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?

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Question 37

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?

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Question 38

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?

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Question 39

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.

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Question 40

All the possible 3 digit numbers are formed from the number 13579. What is the expected value of the sum of the digits?

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