Apps from California up 20 percent

California high school seniors are more interested in leaving the state than ever before.

Penn has received 20-percent more applicants from California this year than last, according to Dean of Admissions Eric Furda. California is consistently a top applicant state for Penn, he added.

The 2009-2010 academic year saw large budget cuts at California’s state colleges, according to Terri Devine, director of college counseling at Francis Parker School in San Diego.

“The system is bankrupt,” she said, which has led to an increase in interest in schools outside of California.

Another explanation for the increase in students applying outside of the Golden State could be a stronger presence of college recruiting, according to Devine.

Pat Croner of College Match has seen an increase in out-of-state schools among her students over the past two years.

Since “parents are becoming more savvy” about what is going on in California’s education system, out of state options seem appealing when faced with cut courses and increased class sizes.

However, Croner does not believe that more students are leaving California, simply that they are sending more college applications overall.

“A lot of sharp students apply, but when the chips are down, they stay with California,” she said, although she can’t predict if this year will be different.

Patricia Fels, a college counselor at Sacramento Country Day School, foresees a different situation in which an increasing number of students in the high school class of 2010 will choose to leave California.

Looking at Penn specifically, Fels doesn’t believe that the University of California and California State University budget cuts are the reason behind Penn’s increase in California applications, given that “Penn has always been very popular.”

Fels said horror stories have been circulating in Sacramento of students who are stuck at UCs and CSUs in their sixth year unable to take a class necessary for graduation because the schools have reduced their course offerings.

Monica DePriest, co-director of college counseling at the Marlborough School in Los Angeles, also suggested California’s increase in applications to Penn is a result of students applying to more schools.

Marlborough’s graduating class of 2009, on average, applied to eight schools, while this year the average is 11, according to DePriest.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty out there not only in California but selective colleges in general,” she said.

California native and College sophomore Emily Zucker explained that her choice to leave California was because of the budget crisis.

“UC schools are just too big and they’re losing funding, so more of my friends there can’t take the classes they want and need to take,” she said.

Still, this is not the case for everyone.

“The only reason I left [California] was because of Wharton. Otherwise, I would’ve stayed,” Wharton sophomore Kyle Crown said.

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