Students who attended every help session earned significantly higher scores on corresponding exams than students who attended no help sessions. Students who attended some help sessions earned intermediate exam scores, and their exam scores after attending a help session were not significantly different than their exam scores after skipping a help session. Students who more regularly attended help sessions also claimed that they spent more time studying for exams. These results indicate that traditional help sessions (1) are predominantly attended by students who are successful because of a suite of other positive academic behaviors and (2) do not have a significant impact on exam scores in introductory biology courses. On average, attendance at help sessions appears to identify, but not produce, students who earn high grades in introductory science courses.