Students who elect majors in the sciences, --------------------,

Question

Students who elect majors in the sciences, --------------------, can expect an average annual salary that is 50% higher than that of students majoring in the humanities.

A. similar to students in programming, biochemistry, physics
B. and majors in programming, biochemistry, and physics
C. such as those in programming, biochemistry, and physics (Answer)
D. like programming, biochemistry, and physics

Source: university exam in Iran

Hi,
One native English speaker in http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/students-who-elect-majors-in-the-sciences.3241092/#post-16404533 told me that B, C and D all are correct.
Do you agree with him?

Thank you.

GPY · Accepted Answer

Not really. B makes it sound as if biochemistry and physics are not sciences. In D, the use of "like" feels slightly casual for this purpose. I don't think C is perfectly worded either ("those" seems superfluous).

Sb70012 · Answer

Thank you and why is A wrong?
Students who elect majors in the sciences, similar to students in programming, biochemistry, physics,

If the blue part doesn't modify the red part?

GPY · Answer

sb70012Thank you and why is A wrong? Students who elect majors in the sciences, similar to students in programming, biochemistry, physics,

The use of "similar to" is not strictly correct. "similar to" should be adjectival, e.g. "X is similar to Y", not adverbial. The use of "in" is a bit loose too. Can you be a student "in" programming, for instance? Finally, like B, this one implies that biochemistry and physics are not sciences.

The problem for me is choosing between C and D. I would not know which was the "correct" answer if you had not marked it. Both seem acceptable, but both could be subject to very small nitpicks.

Students who elect majors in the sciences, --------------------,

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