There was fortunately no April Fools’ prank awaiting 2,413 students who received regular decision letters of acceptance to the Georgetown Class of 2017, a record portion of whom identify as racial minorities.

Of the 19,879 students that applied, 16.6 percent were admitted in the combined early and regular decision cycles, a slight bump from last year’s record low of 16.5 percent.

The McDonough School of Business, with an acceptance rate of 15.7 percent, was the most selective school for the first time ever, a distinction traditionally reserved for Georgetown College. The acceptance rate for the College, at 16.3 percent, was the only one to increase from last year across the four schools. Admission to the School of Nursing and Health Studies and the Walsh School of Foreign Service, both at 17.7 percent, also grew more competitive this year.

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Charles Deacon (CAS ’64, GRD ’69) attributed the distribution to the current state of the economy and increasing pressure for students to choose “practical” majors.

“Students seem very concerned with secure career choices, which is why we’re seeing this increase inMSB [and] NHS majors,” Deacon said.

There was a three-point bump from last year in the number of accepted students who identify as Hispanic, now at 11 percent. Thirteen percent of admitted students identified as Asian and eight percent as black, both down two percent from last year’s accepted class. Seven percent of accepted students identified with multiple races. These combined figures have resulted in Georgetown’s most diverse admitted class ever, with 39 percent coming from minority backgrounds.

In addition, a record number of first-generation college students — 12 percent — were admitted, which Deacon attributed to the Georgetown Scholarship Program.

“We continue to ask ourselves, ‘How can we go about doing a better job reaching out, levelling the playing field and attracting students from all backgrounds?’” Deacon said. “Raising money [for financial aid] is a critical question for the changing character of Georgetown.”

The accepted class is 55 percent female, slightly lower than the national trend of about 58 percent female, according to The New York Times.

International students made up 11 percent of admitted students, up from last year’s eight percent. The largest groups of foreign students were accepted from China, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Georgetown admitted students from all 50 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and 69 other countries, although the applicant pool indicated interest from students in 119 countries, according to Margaret Lysy, associate director of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

The two most represented states in the admitted class were California and New York, with 396 and 392 students, respectively. New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia saw 280, 180 and 159 students accepted, respectively.

Deacon emphasized that a major component of achieving a more diverse Georgetown will be a healthy endowment that allows the university to offer more generous financial aid packages to those who are accepted.

The Georgetown admissions process continues to distinguish itself from other universities with its mandatory interview and refusal to use the Common Application.

This decision results in fewer applicants and higher acceptance rates compared to peer institutions such as Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, which had their lowest admissions rates on record with 5.79 and 12.1 percent, respectively, according to The New York Times. Yet Deacon believes the process allows Georgetown to take a more holistic approach to admissions, which includes mailing applicants their decisions rather than posting them online.

“We’ve held on to this way of doing it that we find to be a more appropriate way to end what has been a very lengthy and very important process in your life,” Deacon said.

Students on the waitlist must hold out until after May 1, when deposits are due, to find out whether they will join next year’s freshman class.

According to Deacon, the university has placed 2,000 students on the waitlist, from which it has traditionally taken around 50 to 100 people to reach its target number of 1,580 students — a number that has remained consistent for several years due to restrictions in the campus plan.