Blog · Two lists, side by side · October 2, 2026
Palo Alto Senior High School vs. Henry M. Gunn High School: the same college is first on both lists
- Both lists name the same college first: Foothill College. Palo Alto Senior High School prints 42 graduates per class year. Henry M. Gunn High School prints 51.
- On the Stanford University board, Gunn ranks first and Palo Alto second of 162 schools whose lists name Stanford: 22 and 16 per class year.
- At the Ivy+ colleges, the two lists print 36 graduates per class year (Gunn) and 35 (Palo Alto).
Two public high schools sit in one city: Palo Alto, California. Each publishes a matriculation list — its own list of where its graduates enrolled.
Gunn's list is labeled "2025." Palo Alto's is labeled "2023, 2024, 2025, 2026," with its counts in the column marked 2026. Two lists can cover different class years. So the fair number to read is the count per class year. That means the printed count divided by the class years the list covers. Both lists cover one class year.
Palo Alto's list names 117 colleges and 399 graduates. Gunn's names 98 colleges and 360 graduates. Sixty-four colleges appear on both.
The ten largest shared colleges
| College | Palo Alto per class year (printed total) | Gunn per class year (printed total) |
|---|---|---|
| Foothill College | 42 (42) | 51 (51) |
| Stanford University | 16 (16) | 22 (22) |
| University of California-Berkeley | 16 (16) | 19 (19) |
| New York University | 12 (12) | 16 (16) |
| University of Southern California | 11 (11) | 9 (9) |
| Cal Poly San Luis Obispo | 10 (10) | 9 (9) |
| University of Washington (Seattle) | 8 (8) | 11 (11) |
| University of California-Davis | 8 (8) | 11 (11) |
| Northeastern University | 9 (9) | 8 (8) |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 8 (8) | 9 (9) |
Palo Alto Senior High School, its five largest: Foothill College 42, University of California-Berkeley 16, Stanford University 16, New York University 12, University of California-Irvine 12.
Henry M. Gunn High School, its five largest: Foothill College 51, Stanford University 22, University of California-Berkeley 19, New York University 16, University of Washington (Seattle) 11.
Ivy+ means the Ivy League plus Stanford, MIT, Chicago and Duke. Gunn's list prints 36 per class year there. Palo Alto's prints 35.
Every figure comes from each school's own published list. Counts are as printed. Class years are as each school states them. Acceptance lists are never mixed in.
A school not on these rankings did not publish a numbered matriculation list we could read. That is all absence means. It is never a statement about its graduates.
Sources: Palo Alto Senior High School and its College Matriculation Summary (Palo Alto High School College & Career Center). Henry M. Gunn High School and its College Matriculation (College & Career Center). Stanford University feeder schools and the Stanford University page.
Boards as of October 2, 2026. Schools publish new lists every fall, so the live board is the current ranking.