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I've heard somewhere that although writing a letter can help, a school like Harvard really doesn't need students to show them "interest," as they know that an overwhelming majority of the students staying on the waitlist are more than interested in attending harvard. I think that the way they fill the waitlist is by selecting students who will make their numbers look a little more like the way they want them to look. For example, if they're severely lacking in African- American enrollment, they may target AA students in order to have a more diverse class. Same applies to gender, geographic location, and even extracurriculars.
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This sounds more likely. Harvard knows that, even relying on just stats alone, if they offer you a spot the answer will most likely be "yes." Getting off the waitlist by not being at the mercy of quotas and what-have-you requires doing something notable in the spring that your app failed to include. The best examples are:
1. Qualifying for finalist standing in an individual science olympiad.
and
2. Earning a semifinalist spot in the Presidential Scholar's Program.
While even these might not be guarantees, I have heard of several cases where someone got waitlisted from an elite school, qualified for a camp, and gotten off the 'list.