Yes, other countries have many excellent universities, but as far as I know (and I might be wrong), top universities in most countries don’t practice holistic admissions to the extent that elite schools do in the US; correspondingly, students spend far less time focusing on “fit,” and the process is more straightforward. There are also far fewer private universities in, say, the UK and China compared to the US.
I don’t know. As much as I dislike some aspects of the current system, it does have some positives. If American universities moved towards an entirely academics-based system, I think that would diminish most schools’ individual characters, ultimately giving students less choice. Many students also benefit from holistic admissions, such as those who apply to test-optional schools. And despite wishing admissions were a little more meritocratic overall, I personally don’t want to be treated as simply a cog in an “idea factory.” There’s more to it than that.
The American system is more subjective, but I think the lack of transparency is the true issue for many people. I agree with @oldschooldad’s previous post that colleges are balancing “impossible compromises [of] conflicting missions.” Tough issues!