FWIW: When I was in undergrad, the students who showed up only for exams and sat in the back of the room were not cheating, and still ended up with some of the best scores.

They had opted out of the lectures, believing that they were inefficient or ineffective (or just poorly scheduled). Not everyone learns best in a lecture format. And not everyone is starting with the same level of knowledge of the topic.

Also:

> A 4.0 and a good score on an online assessment used to be a great signal that someone was competent

... this has never been true in my experience, as a student or hiring manager.