1. Less/fewer is a distinction rapidly being lost by native English speakers, so don't feel bad if it's confusing. (It's also a relatively recent rule; Shakespe

1. Less/fewer is a distinction rapidly being lost by native English speakers, so don't feel bad if it's confusing. (It's also a relatively recent rule; Shakespeare didn't follow it, for instance.) 2. If I were copy-editing this, I probably would have substituted in "less" for "fewer", but mostly because as a copy-editor you feel like you have to contribute something 3. The senses are ultimately identical ("fewer applicants than 15% of them" vs. "less of a percentage of applicants than 15"), so I'd say ultimately either is OK.