If grades or exam scores don't generally reflect one's intelligence or mastery of a particular subject, why are they used? It seems like the system primarily rewards luck and incentivizes cheating. When grades are used to stigmatize and drastically change the course of a student's life, why wouldn't he/she cheat in the face of insurmountable odds? Therefore hard work is even less rewarded when a student far less academically sound has just memorized a few definitions and passed an exam with a higher score than you. At the same time, they walk out of the classroom forgetting everything they crammed for, whereas you, the lesser of a grade you may have received, retain everything after days of consistent studying - and could even be deserving of a higher grade.