Final answer:
By dividing the total number of students by the sum of the ratio parts and then multiplying by the number of parts representing females, it can be determined there are approximately 3186 female students at Prestige University.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the number of female students at Prestige University, where the ratio of females to males is 3:1, you can first add the parts of the ratio together (3 + 1 = 4). Knowing there are a total of 4,247 students, you divide this number by the sum of the ratio parts to find out how many students make up one part of the ratio: 4,247 ÷ 4 = 1,061.75. Since one part is the equivalent of the males, you multiply this number by 3 to find how many parts account for the females: 1,061.75 × 3 ≈ 3,185.25, which rounds to the nearest whole number as 3,185.
The closest answer choice to our computed value is a) 3190. However, by rounding the intermediate step (1061.75 to 1062) before the final calculation, we get 3,186 females, thus the closest answer rounded to the nearest whole number would be d) 3186.