Not sure I completely agree with @gibby on this one. I was admitted in December, and while I think I had the GPA, scores and ECs to get a serious look, I’m not sure I’d have made the cut without a letter from a prestigious alum (who hardly knew me). I took the “no stone unturned” philosophy to Harvard admissions. Without a hook, the odds are so absurd, why not (if available) get such a letter?