American Educational System

As a whole, no. But particular departments within elite universities are often excellent. And earning an advanced degree in the USA often means securing lucrative employment opportunities after graduation.

Foreign students translate to more revenues for American colleges and universities. Their tuition is sometimes threefold to regular students tuition. Ivy League colleges certainly uphold their academic excellence, but any
educational institution is as successful as its students are. Yes, there is an element of party mentality in a number of colleges and good athletes not always meet the academic achievements since the athletic rivalry among colleges is more important.

Indeed, certain high schools have metal detectors, but that's not the norm and considering that you have 50 states that are as different as other countries, it's ignorant to assume that all of the United States is the same.

Schools in crime ridden communities have a much harder time to maintain a safe environment for students and teachers alike, a metal detector and/or any other safety measures are (unfortunately) needed.

I think another point is the US universities are much more available. Usually, college is significantly subsidized in other countries, so the cost is much less but spots are limited. There are many more spots in US universities compared to other countries, so strong students willing to pay can find great opportunities.

As to your other points, the US is a huge country, third in both population and land mass. Are there bad school districts? Schools in violent areas? Sure. Is that the typical US experience? I doubt it. All my kids went to great public schools as did my nieces and nephews in completely different states. Are foreign students "more advanced"? That is probably selection bias. Foreign students that are looking to study abroad are likely not average students. Compare them to the top quartile of US students and I doubt you would see much difference overall (although you might see some differences in where their education is focused.)

When I was a student we had an American Exchange programme.

The American Students who came over here were in their third year, but were put in with Freshers.

One reason for this was secondary education.

We don't graduate from high School we take public examinations in subjects at 16 and 18.

The examinations at 16 normally cover a range of subjects, Maths, English, Science, Humanities and Foreign Languages.

These examinations used to be called O levels, O meaning Ordinary, now they are called GCSEs.

After taking the Exams at 16 the student can either leave school, take on vocational qualifications or continue with their academic career by taking A levels.

A stands for advanced and as such are specialised. Students normally take 3-4 A levels, (as opposed to 8-11 O levels) and normally have them in connected disciplines, like Chemistry, Physics and Maths or English Literature, History and Geography.

That means our students do not attend college with a general background but one where they have already started to specialise and as such are more suited for specialist study from the off.

Are you from England?

Yes, but the country, as recognised as a sovereign state by the UN, is the UK.

Although Scotland's system is slightly different.