[seu]

I agree. I'm not German but have been living here for almost 9 years. Potsdam Institute for Climate Research is probably the world leader on its topic. The University of Kiel is probably one of the best in the world in Marine Studies. Surely there are other examples. International reputation tends to favor english-speaking institutions, and rankings based on publications are skewed towards... publications, which is not necessarily the only way to measure education quality.

Aschenbrenner seems to suffer a little from not feeling accepted in his home country. His argument seems to be mostly that his "elite" intelligence was not properly recognized, so he feels that places who celebrate that/him are better than those who don't.

In general, contemporary German culture does not like taking risks or people who stand out. You can see that in casual conversations with people, in the way their bureaucracy works, in the kinds of things that they promote or not. Outside of Berlin, that it, which as a city itself is a stand-out, where people come from their small village because they felt they don't fit in.

[abelaer]

I definitely agree on small German villages having more of a tall poppy syndrome, but I wonder if it's fair to leave out Berlin (and I guess München, Hamburg and perhaps Köln) in the comparison. To make that comparison fair, you'd also have to leave out Boston, NYC, and Bay Area, which will also leave you with a quite different academic/entrepreneurial culture in the US.

[MandieD]

It is obvious that this guy hasn’t spent any time in the non-urban South or Midwest, but to be fair, a rich German teenager would have no reason to, and would find the logistics a bit challenging even if he was really motivated to learn about life in the non-glitzy parts of the US. Life sucks for boys like him in rural East Texas if they can’t get out quickly. Life would have been kind of crappy for me as a bright, ambitious girl in the rural school district I was in through 5th grade, but I was able to transfer in to the neighboring city school district for middle and high school. High school was a waste of time academically for math and science, but spending a few more years with people who were not all bright, ambitious and/or from stable, middle class families was good for me in the long run.

“… Germany feels poorer than the US.”

Rural Franconia feels richer than East Texas outside the Houston metro area.

Mr. Aschenbrenner's education is incomplete until he works for a year outside of NY/Boston/Bay Area, supporting himself only on that income.