When did banking recruiting get so hard?
Back in my day (which wasn't all that long ago) all you needed was a 3.5+ GPA, some kind of finance work experience (PWM in your home town was totally fine), and a halfway decent personality and you could land a solid BB or MM job (I went to a semi-target). Interviews were held on campus after Christmas break of your junior year (i.e. 6 months before starting your SA job) according to a strict / predictable schedule, and networking only helped on the margin (it was by no means a necessity).
Nowadays you've got kids recruiting for their junior year summer before spring break of their sophomore years, networking with multiple people at every bank, BB internships their freshman year summer, 3.9+ GPAs, and a whole lot more. Looking back, I would have been nowhere near competitive today even if I was in a position to get multiple offers back in the day.
What changed? When did it get so difficult? Are incoming analysts really that much better prepared?
Probably the internet. It levels the playing field, with respect to knowledge and access. Doing things manually, you didn't want to apply to 25 schools... now with common app and internet, it's easy. Same for applying to banks -- go on their web site, few clicks, boom, you've applied. Also, internet allows you to reach out to alums and strangers who already work at bank, who can help you out and push your resume through. Also, can go online (to places like, oh, I don't know, WSO) and figure out what you need to do to improve your chances.
It's the internet, baby. Changes everything.