In my experience, German high schools (Gymnasiums) are much better than US high schools, but US universities are better than German universities.
Is that because Gymnasiums are for the more academically talented and those who are going into trades or just wish to be permanent drains on society go to other schools?
The problem is the you’re comparing less than the top 1/3 tier of those in the German system to 100% of those in the US system. That tends to skew the statistics considerably since those Germans taking the SAT and ACTs for example are almost all from that small top tier population. Realize that most Germans end up with a Real or even Hauptschule (9th grade) education and in all reality despite their self loving belief, it’s not on par with a standard 12 year HS.
The most “comparable” system to the US is what’s called a Gesamptschule but that normally only goes to grade 10. However, you have a system that does not separate out kids and imposes less of a “glass ceiling” since it allows for relative easy addition of the gymnasiale Oberstufe. Probably the biggest downfall of the German system is their railroading of kids at an early age, to early. The downfall of the US system is that you have kids that are holding others back in the classrooms. But like the German system it’s not so easy to simply lay blanket judgment on the US system, since even in our system you have those who are in AP/Honors and more advanced math/science classes who are lining themselves up. It’s more subtle, but even in the US school system you have those who are college/University bound and the others who are taking algebra in their senior year.
The German system makes teaching easier and allows for less drag (a concept behind many magnet schools for example). The US system allows for more opportunities for the student. In the US system it’s completely possible for someone in 9th grade to pull their head out of their ass and go to university in a pre-med program following HS. That’s what it basically boils down to, opportunity vs. efficiency.