[guyzero]

Right, is it really any "harder"? If we assume rational and consistent grading of applicants (I know, I know, but we have to make some assumptions) then if you're in, say, the top 3%, is it actually any hard to get in? Are the new applicants for any given school actually good or are they simply optimistic students who didn't apply before?

I mean, how many people who Harvard (say) would accept don't already apply? Probably a pretty small number. The issue with getting into Harvard remains a number of factors, but other applicants in't really one of them. That is, the quality of the applicant pool of people accepted hasn't changed much.