I read that and shared with my kids—one at a large flagship public U and one at a midsize private. Both like their schools.
I was also shocked that students cd sign up for overlapping classes, but when I reflected back on my experience at Yale 30+ years ago, I can’t say that my best learning occurred in the classroom. My best learning occurred writing papers, researching and honing what I wanted to say. My daughter at the private said she saw value in class attendance (tho, she admitted, her attendance might not be as good if grades didn’t have an attendance component). My son at the flagship public said he has realized that he doesn’t learn advanced math best in a classroom lecture. He still will attend, esp when he thinks the teachers are good, but he’s glad to be able to watch and replay lectures, and review class notes after, with a focus on the pieces that he struggles with.
I want to believe class attendance is important to learning but I’m not sure it was for me. My husband went to a tiny liberal school and it was definitely critical to his experience. Interestingly, I think class attendance was more important to my learning in law school—with much bigger classes. But that cd be bc I did not find reading cases to be particularly helpful to my understanding basic structures of law—so I needed the classes more!