Don't know about Harvard, but I interviewed people for admissions into Oxford CS. If anything, poor background would help you - while we all try to be as objective as possible, if anything we would cut you a bit more slack if you came from a poor background.
In this day and age, I would argue that access to education is actually nearly ubiquitous when it comes to STEM. Lack of encouragement/emphasis on education from parents and the rest of the social circle is a much bigger problem. That, and smart poor kids just don't apply, because they wrongly think they don't stand a chance.
Arguably, a smart kid growing up in a poor family, but with parents that put great emphasis on education, has an advantage over a rich kid - the rich kid is unlikely to have the same kind of drive to succeed.
In this day and age, I would argue that access to education is actually nearly ubiquitous when it comes to STEM. Lack of encouragement/emphasis on education from parents and the rest of the social circle is a much bigger problem. That, and smart poor kids just don't apply, because they wrongly think they don't stand a chance.
Arguably, a smart kid growing up in a poor family, but with parents that put great emphasis on education, has an advantage over a rich kid - the rich kid is unlikely to have the same kind of drive to succeed.