The competition for places in the upper tier of higher education is a lot tougher than it was in the 1960s and ’70s, when having good grades and SAT scores in the high 1200s was generally sufficient to get you into a respectable college.
Just a note about the SATs: The SATs used to be out of 1600 with Math/Verbal as a 800/800 split. Critical Reading wasn't added until 2005. There was also an adjustment in 1995 that boosted the mean score on the SAT about 100 points, effectively making tests taken before 1995 worth more than tests taken after.