> exams were bad at measuring student skill

They are. I have a friend who was significantly more smart and thorough in our studies but often get bad scores on exams not being able to concentrate under the pressure.

Exams also rarely measured skill in the course. Often just a subset. We would often spend the last month of each semester cramming exams instead of studying the curse material because it wasn't that useful.

I rarely felt I got a lot out of courses, but I often felt I would if I got to study it properly