Yep at Univ. of Rochester as physics undergrads we were often allowed a single sheet of paper with anything on it (we were told no microfiche!). I did a few open book exams but still made the "cheat" sheet. We all spent a great deal of time preparing that sheet. You had to study to really know what to put on the sheet. I often found that I did not need the sheet in the actual exam because the process of preparing it helped to bring the concepts forward in my mind.
In grad school as classes got more difficult, we had take home exams even. I always dreaded these because they were substantially more difficult than a regular exam. Generally if you didn't have the concepts down, having an entire library at your disposal was not helpful in that case.
In grad school as classes got more difficult, we had take home exams even. I always dreaded these because they were substantially more difficult than a regular exam. Generally if you didn't have the concepts down, having an entire library at your disposal was not helpful in that case.