Penn's overall admission rate dropped to a record-setting 15.9 percent for the Class of 2011, according to data released by admissions officials Friday.

In its first year using the Common Application, the University received 22,634 applications - also a record high - and accepted 3,610 students.

This year's numbers marked a 1.8 percentage-point drop from last year's 17.7 percent acceptance rate.

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee Stetson characterized the class as "strong," adding that this admissions cycle was more challenging to evaluate.

"Once again, the depth of the pool was significant," he said.

The University accepted 39 percent of the Class of 2011 through Early Decision - with a 29 percent acceptance rate - and admitted only 11 percent of applicants in the regular decision process.

Stetson also said that he expects about 66 percent of the accepted students to matriculate, which is in line with the yield rate from past years.

Doretta Goldberg, president of College Directions, LLC, said that, from her and her colleagues' experiences, the admit rates at Ivy League schools are becoming "lower and lower ever single year."

She added that, no matter what student walks into her office, Ivy League schools are always placed on the "less likely" list because the idea that 89 percent of students were rejected in regular decision is "pretty scary."

All statistics will not be official until numbers from the waitlist are incorporated in late summer.

The number of students admitted decreased modestly from last year for the College of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Wharton, with the three schools accepting 2,257, 762 and 471 students, respectively. The School of Nursing accepted slightly more applicants this year, totaling 120.

Penn continued its tradition of having a large international student population by accepting 454 international students from 79 different countries.

Geographic diversity in the U.S. was also evident. All 50 states were represented, with the largest number of admits coming from the North Atlantic coast, making up 54 percent. Students from the West and Southwest comprised 22 percent of admits, 12 percent of students admitted hailed from the Midwest, and Southern Atlantic students made up 13 percent of the pool.

The number of underrepresented minorities - which made up 20 percent of the entire pool of admitted students - is relatively consistent with last year. Five more black students were accepted, bringing the total to 407. The number of Latinos admitted fell slightly to 310 from 324 last year. Twenty Native Americans were admitted, two more than last year.

Overall, minorities comprise 42 percent of accepted students, down from 44 percent last year.

The average SAT score experienced a moderate increase from 2126 to 2137. The average accepted student was in the 98th percentile of his high school class.

Admitted student Elise McCall from Collegiate Academy in Erie, Pa., is leaning toward attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but still sees a tremendous upside to Penn.

"I like schools in cities, and, of course, the good academics were appealing," she said.