I studied in specialized soviet school (well, post soviet, but same teachers). It had tough entrance exam. I say in past tense because it was dismantled. The biggest thing about those is that we study deeper and with better understanding instead of skipping ahead to make prodigies that understand same topics equally badly but at earlier age, and never really become very competent at anything.
Also, on the humanities, while there may be less % of humanities, the students are smarter and go ahead faster and still retain/​understand more than average at typical humanities course.
I studied in specialized soviet school (well, post soviet, but same teachers). It had tough entrance exam. I say in past tense because it was dismantled. The biggest thing about those is that we study deeper and with better understanding instead of skipping ahead to make prodigies that understand same topics equally badly but at earlier age, and never really become very competent at anything.
Also, on the humanities, while there may be less % of humanities, the students are smarter and go ahead faster and still retain/​understand more than average at typical humanities course.