Question

Five people joined different engineering colleges. Their first names were Sarah (Ms.), Swati (Ms.), Jackie, Mohan and Priya (Ms.). The surnames were Reddy, Gupta, Sanyal, Kumar and Chatterjee. Except for one college which was rated as 3 star, all other colleges were rated either 4 star or 5 star.

The 'Techno Institute' had a higher rating than the college where Priya studied. The three-star college was not 'Deccan College.' Mohan's last name was Gupta but he didn't study at 'Barla College.' Sarah, whose last name wasn't Sanyal, joined 'Techno Institute.' Ms. Kumar and Jackie both studied at four-star colleges. Ms. Reddy studied at the 'Anipal Institute,' which wasn't a five-star college. The 'Barla College' was a five-star college. Swati's last name wasn't Chatterjee. The 'Chemical College' was rated with one star less than the college where Sanyal studied. Only one college was rated five star.

In which college did Priya study?

• A. Anipal Institute
• B. Chemical Institute
• C. Barla College
• D. Deccan College

Hint:

Fix Barla as the only five-star college and Anipal as the three-star college first using the Chemical/Sanyal clue, then the 'Techno rated higher than Priya' clue forces Priya into the only college left below four stars.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Fix the five-star and three-star colleges.
We are told only one college was rated five star, and the 'Barla College' was rated five star, so Barla is that one five-star college. The three-star college is stated to be something other than 'Deccan College,' and it cannot be Barla (already five star) or 'Techno Institute' either, because Techno is said to be rated higher than Priya's college, so Techno cannot be sitting at the lowest rating. This leaves 'Anipal Institute' or 'Chemical College' as the candidate for the three-star college.

Step 2: Use the Chemical College clue to settle which one is three star.
We are told 'Chemical College' was rated one star less than the college where Sanyal studied. If Chemical itself were the three-star college, every other college (Anipal, Deccan, Techno) would have to be four star along with Sanyal's own college, which would force two colleges to carry the only five-star tag once Barla is added, breaking the rule that only one college is five star. So Chemical cannot be the three-star college, which means Anipal Institute is the three-star college, and Chemical, Deccan and Techno are all four star. Chemical being one star below Sanyal's college then correctly makes Sanyal's college the five-star one, that is, Barla College.

Step 3: Place Priya using the Techno Institute clue.
Techno Institute is rated higher than the college where Priya studied, so Priya's college has to sit below Techno's four-star rating. The only college rated below four stars is the three-star college, which Step 2 fixed as Anipal Institute, so Priya's college must be Anipal Institute.

Step 4: Cross-check with the Reddy clue and rule out the other options.
Separately, we are told Ms. Reddy studied at the Anipal Institute. Since every person studies at a different college, the person at Anipal must be both Priya (from Step 3) and Ms. Reddy, so Priya Reddy studies at Anipal Institute. This also rules out Chemical Institute, Barla College and Deccan College, since those colleges belong to the other four people, not Priya.

Final Answer:
Priya studied at the Anipal Institute. \[ \boxed{\text{Anipal Institute}} \]