Thank you for the link, that was very interesting and incidentally proves my point - the US having some excellent options for the top and extortion for the "masses", continental Europe offering solid options for the "masses" but lacking good options for the top. Note that the on-average better results for adults reflect solid preparation for the average to above average in secondary school - in Europe, people who are not in stem subjects never see a math class after high school, and vice versa for the humanities.
In Germany, so much depends on the subject and the level or self selection or over subscription creating the selectivity that higher education, as opposed to secondary education, does not provide. Many stem subjects, in many schools, provide an excellent education for the highly motivated and independent learner, and those are the only subjects I'd recommend for anyone from abroad. Preprofessional subjects such as business or law are industrial mass production, with rigour and challenge not created in the classroom but through final exams. (40 % fail rates after 4 to 5 years of law school). Humanities, with the mild exceptions of teacher certification in the south, are a moon bounce. I went to some classes when I thought of double majoring and was mortified to find that the level was lower than my high school classes.
For a highly gifted kid with a bent for the humanities and social sciences, there simply aren't any good places. A highly motivated and talented American student may shine, but it will be a lonely shining and no one will care.
