You can get your Abitur in adult life should you chose to do so, with little monetary loss. How is that an indication of a "horrible" / less fair system when compared to the American alternative?

@sibling comment: While that's a negligible thing, most conflict when chosing the advanced school track over here arises from parents that prefer to send their kids to higher than recommended school tracks rather than lower ones. Plus, these days, the lower two tiers of advanced schools often take place within the same institution and allows students to relatively flexible switch to one appropriate for them.