I don't think this is true for science majors. Maybe this article is more about the economics of your career. But: > ...students who excel on exams frequently

I don't think this is true for science majors. Maybe this article is more about the economics of your career. But: > ...students who excel on exams frequently fail to apply their knowledge to the real world... the same goes for students of biology, mathematics, statistics, ... I think this holds better for high school. That's were we (myself, at least) got into the "test-zone". Looking back it feels like it was deceitful to emphasise tests. However, the main point from my side is this: I happened to have a good math lecturer at university (i.e., in higher education) that launched my research orientated subsequent years. I don't know if the problem is "higher education" or maybe just mentorship. I think it's a mixed bag for different people.