Chinese-American Feeder High Schools Crowding Index
Across 45 high schools in 11 Chinese-American communities, the most crowded is Lynbrook High School (San Jose, CA, 9.4/10); 5 schools score 8 or higher, and regional averages range from 4.4 to 7.4.
GPA distribution, AP density and admit destinations across 45 feeder high schools in 11 Chinese-American clusters (Bay Area, SGV, Orange County, San Diego, Seattle, NYC, New Jersey, DC, Boston, Chicago, Texas). After this you'll know who the applicant is actually competing against.
Free data · No sign-up · 45 schools, continuously updated·Sources: school profiles, California Department of Education, US News, Niche; primarily 2024-25 school-year public data.
Chinese ratio directly determines internal competition density
GPA median 4.0+ means internal grade inflation; GPA is no longer a differentiator
AP / student = 6+ means not taking APs is falling behind
Ivy+ hit is the school's recent rate of admits to Ivy / Stanford / MIT / Caltech
UC Top 10 is the school's UC top-ten admit share (CA data only; out-of-state shows —)
If your family is in region X, which two columns matter?
Bay Area / SGV / NYC pressure-cooker schools: look at Chinese ratio + GPA median to gauge GPA inflation
Orange County / DC / Boston: look at AP / student + Ivy+ hit to gauge admit yield
Texas / Chicago / Seattle: look at crowding intensity itself + the regional average for relative positioning
Crowding intensity formula (transparent)
A 4-10 number, weighted from 4 real signals (every school on this list is competitive, so the floor is 4):
Chinese ratio weight 0.40
GPA median weight 0.25
AP / student (density) weight 0.20
Ivy+ hit rate weight 0.15
Note: each signal is min-max normalized within the list, weighted, then mapped to the 4-10 band with 1 decimal; 10 = topping every signal on the list. The index recomputes automatically whenever the underlying data updates — no more manual grading.
Example: an applicant at Lynbrook (highest intensity on the list) with 3.8 GPA + 5 APs is below the school median, but nationally is more competitive than 85% of US high schoolers. The pool parents are comparing against and the pool admissions offices compare against are different reference frames.
Sort
Intensity
Region
45 schools · click a school name to expand details
School / one-liner
City
Chinese ratio
GPA median
AP / student
Ivy+ hit
UC Top 10
Crowding intensity
Bay Area8 schools
San Jose, CA
~75%
4.20+
8-12
~4%
~60%
9.4/10
Fremont, CA
~65%
4.15+
8-12
~3.5%
~58%
8.7/10
Cupertino, CA
~70%
4.10+
7-11
~3%
~55%
8.4/10
Palo Alto, CA
~45%
4.00+
6-10
~5%
~50%
6.8/10
Saratoga, CA
~55%
4.05+
6-10
~3%
~52%
7.2/10
Cupertino, CA
~55%
4.00+
6-9
~2%
~48%
6.7/10
San Ramon, CA
~45%
4.05+
6-10
~2.5%
~52%
6.7/10
Dublin, CA
~30%
3.95+
5-9
~1.5%
~45%
5.2/10
· SGV6 schools
San Marino, CA
~55%
4.15+
7-11
~4%
~55%
8.1/10
Arcadia, CA
~65%
4.10+
7-10
~3%
~55%
8/10
Temple City, CA
~55%
4.00+
6-9
~2%
~48%
6.7/10
Diamond Bar, CA
~35%
3.95+
5-9
~1.5%
~45%
5.4/10
Walnut, CA
~40%
3.95+
5-9
~1.5%
~45%
5.6/10
Chino Hills, CA
~25%
3.85+
4-8
~1.5%
~42%
4.2/10
· Irvine / Fullerton5 schools
Fullerton, CA
~30%
4.00+
6-10
~2.5%
~50%
5.8/10
Irvine, CA
~60%
4.00+
6-9
~2%
~52%
6.9/10
Irvine, CA
~60%
4.00+
6-9
~2%
~50%
6.9/10
Irvine, CA
~65%
3.95+
5-9
~1.5%
~48%
6.7/10
Irvine, CA
~40%
3.95+
5-9
~2%
~50%
5.7/10
· North County4 schools
San Diego, CA 92130
~30%
4.00+
5-9
~3.5%
~55%
5.7/10
San Diego, CA 92127
~35%
4.00+
6-9
~2%
~50%
5.8/10
San Diego, CA 92075
~20%
3.90+
5-8
~3%
~52%
4.6/10
San Diego, CA 92129
~30%
4.00+
5-9
~2%
~48%
5.4/10
Eastside4 schools
Bellevue, WA
~45%
4.00+
6-10
~3%
—
6.5/10
Bellevue, WA
~35%
3.95+
6-9
~2.5%
—
5.7/10
Redmond, WA
~50%
4.00+
5-9
~3%
—
6.5/10
Sammamish, WA
~35%
3.90+
5-8
~2%
—
5.1/10
NJ4 schools
West Windsor, NJ
~55%
4.00+
7-11
~4%
—
7.4/10
Plainsboro, NJ
~55%
4.00+
7-11
~3.5%
—
7.3/10
Livingston, NJ
~20%
3.90+
5-8
~3%
—
4.6/10
Millburn, NJ
~25%
3.90+
5-8
~3%
—
4.8/10
· Specialized HS3 schools
New York, NY
~55%
3.90+
6-10
~7%
—
7.1/10
The Bronx, NY
~35%
3.85+
6-9
~5%
—
5.6/10
New York, NY
~30%
3.85+
5-9
~8%
—
5.6/10
DC ·3 schools
Alexandria, VA
~25%
3.95+
8-12
~6%
—
6.5/10
McLean, VA
~20%
3.90+
6-10
~4%
—
5.2/10
McLean, VA
~20%
3.85+
5-9
~3.5%
—
4.6/10
· Lexington3 schools
Lexington, MA
~25%
3.95+
6-10
~5%
—
5.7/10
Acton, MA
~25%
3.90+
5-9
~3.5%
—
5/10
Winchester, MA
~20%
3.85+
5-8
~3%
—
4.4/10
·2 schools
Naperville, IL
~20%
3.90+
5-9
~3%
—
4.7/10
Aurora, IL
~25%
3.85+
5-8
~2%
—
4.4/10
· Plano / Frisco3 schools
Plano, TX
~25%
3.90+
5-9
~2.5%
—
4.9/10
Plano, TX
~25%
3.85+
4-8
~1.5%
—
4.2/10
Frisco, TX
~20%
3.85+
4-8
~2%
—
4.1/10
After reading: what's next
See where you stand vs these pressure cookers
The free positioning assessment outputs three tiers (Reach / Match / Safety) in 5 minutes — no PDF — and you immediately see relative position among the 45 pressure-cooker schools you filtered.
To push up from a <8 intensity school, the key is knowing exactly where your hardware + soft profile is stuck. The $49 positioning diagnosis gives a complete direction call — 4-axis gap analysis + 12-18 month action list.
* Data is compiled from public sources. Chinese ratio is estimated from surname + district census data, not official statistics. * AP averages are merged across grades and vary significantly by year. * Your school not on the list?Email us — we'll add it next round. Wondering where these students end up? Browse the college library →