But the bag of tricks is a feature of US undergrad education seemingly everywhere, except perhaps in pockets at the very highest level. The tricks permit the student to pass the test so they can go on to do something else. Whoever sits in a chemistry course isn't there for the chemistry, they are mostly there to go up to medical school or allied health science. Of course there are entrance exams.

We have stopped putting things into context, i.e. we do not provide an education any longer. The sideswipe remark in the original paper about Prof. Neanderthaler is also very real.