<p>@maverickjay: even at lower tier schools, acceptance rates can be low, depending on the field and the size of the program. Students still need to be funded, and the program’s budget/independent funding keeps the numbers low. That said, you’ll find a different applicant pool at a lower tier school than you will at a top ten. </p>
<p>At any level of prestige, you’ll find that a lot of applicants either are not of the matching academic quality or have not sufficiently researched the program to discern how they will fit in. Some either don’t know or cannot articulate their reasons for pursuing advanced study. Even once a program weeds out all these people, it still has to make tough choices about who to admit and fund. </p>
<p>While, as Polarscribe says, there aren’t any safeties for admission to funded graduate programs, you can determine the programs where you’ll likely to fit, in terms of both qualifications and research interests. This increases your chances of acceptance.</p>