Harvard students of today are enormously more effective and likely intelligent than those of before. Some of that is due to technology making schoolwork easier,

Harvard students of today are enormously more effective and likely intelligent than those of before. Some of that is due to technology making schoolwork easier, but also because of population growth like you said. In the 1950s, you could get into Harvard with one AP course scoring a 3: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/29Rparenting..html https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/nyregion/nyregionspecial2... Today you might have 5's on a dozen AP courses and be fully rejected (not waitlisted).