He's only 11. Still, BJ Bae blended in with the thousands of people of Korean heritage who swarmed an Orange County college fair this weekend. He stopped to sign up for a concentration test so "I can know what job might be good for me."

Angela Kim, 10, headed straight for the Stanford Universitytable, then UC Berkeley, then Columbia University. "We have lots of choices," she said confidently.

The mothers of both children tagged along, stuffing handbooks into their bags, promising to review them together when they get home.

"I'm just stunned by how early the parents are preparing their kids," said Jay Tsai, a recruiter for Yale University, as he surveyed the crowd at the 2012 College Fair in Irvine. The event, sponsored by the Korea Daily newspaper, drew more than 4,000 people — even in 100-degree heat.

Koreans and other Asians placing a premium on academic achievement and college preparation is not new. But to Tsai, the intense interest and the young age of some of those at the event seemed to signal something that is new.

"This tells me it's getting more competitive than ever before,"