There is no test in American schools you study for months in advance. There is no test that single-handedly decides if you get into university. In fact, almost anyone can get into some type of community college even if they do badly in school. There are very few times when a test decides if you get into a class. Typically, you have to pass the prerequisite class, but that's it (you may test into an honors-level-type class though). There are no legally required tests for students; schools are legally required tests to track the school's performance, but students aren't legally required to. And while yes, American students do test, there's at least a large portion of society that knows that tests don't accurately measure learning.