At least in the UK I’ve seen one conflict of this kind talked about quite frequently: the choice between getting a deep understanding of a subject, and learning how to do well on the exam.
This happens at all levels up to and including graduate degrees, but I have most experience in undergraduate admissions in mathematics, and looking at the qualifications directly before these (A-levels). Many UK universities admit principally on the basis of A-level results, and the exams for these have a certain number of standard style of question. It is possible to learn specifically how to answer this style of question, and that is often a good strategy for people trying to maximise their grade in a given amount of study time. When they get to university, however, and the mathematics gets more abstract, people who have learned the methods in this way tend to suffer in comparison to people who have a deep understanding of the basics, even if they’re less good at complicated questions.
This is further complicated by the fact that Oxford and Cambridge interview students, which is an opportunity to probe how well they understand things which do not fit into the regular mould (it is possible to learn how to do well at these interviews, but in that case the signalling is a little closer to actually building human capital). This means that the best strategies for getting into different universities can vary significantly. So while it seems like a lot of our applicants have over-emphasised learning how to do exam questions, I’m not sure that this is the wrong strategy for them considering that they are applying for multiple universities.
At least in the UK I’ve seen one conflict of this kind talked about quite frequently: the choice between getting a deep understanding of a subject, and learning how to do well on the exam.
This happens at all levels up to and including graduate degrees, but I have most experience in undergraduate admissions in mathematics, and looking at the qualifications directly before these (A-levels). Many UK universities admit principally on the basis of A-level results, and the exams for these have a certain number of standard style of question. It is possible to learn specifically how to answer this style of question, and that is often a good strategy for people trying to maximise their grade in a given amount of study time. When they get to university, however, and the mathematics gets more abstract, people who have learned the methods in this way tend to suffer in comparison to people who have a deep understanding of the basics, even if they’re less good at complicated questions.
This is further complicated by the fact that Oxford and Cambridge interview students, which is an opportunity to probe how well they understand things which do not fit into the regular mould (it is possible to learn how to do well at these interviews, but in that case the signalling is a little closer to actually building human capital). This means that the best strategies for getting into different universities can vary significantly. So while it seems like a lot of our applicants have over-emphasised learning how to do exam questions, I’m not sure that this is the wrong strategy for them considering that they are applying for multiple universities.