1. Unless you are in a performing arts program, exams aren't really anything like whiteboard interviews. They are much more limited in scope. You generally have

1. Unless you are in a performing arts program, exams aren't really anything like whiteboard interviews. They are much more limited in scope. You generally have more time. There's no one watching your every step. You don't have to talk while solving a problem. They tend to be written by people with at least some formal training in pedagogy. They don't tend to be written and administered by 24 year olds who are trying to prove how smart they are. Your job while in school is to study for exams, so you tend to have more time to do so. 2. This part is more important. School is about a lot more than exams. Projects were usually about 50% of the grade in CS classes. If you made it through 4 years of the CS program I went through, you know how to program, or you paid someone to go for you for all 4 years. So yeah I'd take a B average from my school as proof that you know how to program. But I wouldn't make it a requirement.