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Getting into the right graduate school isn’t impossible, but it might seem that way. As more and more people look to expand their education through post-graduate study, the increase in competition is making it harder and harder for students to get accepted, forcing admissions committees to become much more selective.

Applying to medical school can be one of life’s most stressful experiences. On top of the long timelines, grueling tests, drop-dead deadlines, and high costs, there’s the simple fact that average MCAT scores and applicant volume at the most coveted schools is climbing.

College admissions is fiercely competitive. In 2015, a record-breaking 116,000 students applied for just 16,000 slots at UCLA. Top-ranked institutions like Yale, Duke, and Vanderbilt will give you an outstanding education, but their acceptance rates have been steadily declining.

It’s called “flight to quality”—the growing tendency of B-school applicants to focus all their energies on the top, best-branded schools on the theory that only those schools will give them the sure job and return on investment to justify the cost of the MBA. This flight to quality means that the “ultra-elite” business schools are becoming even more ferociously competitive.