Come on, that is NOT why one doesn’t get into Harvard. It’s not just that they aren’t interesting and wasted their time on GPA and SAT. Seriously, our whole life/high school career they tell us to get a high SAT and GPA and we hear horror stories of even 2400s not getting into Harvard, so we think “if even a 2400 can’t get in I better not even think about applying with less than a 2300”!
I doubt it’s even about the individual, it’s just that Harvard plays itself as a school that someone can get into with good grades and good ECs but it isn’t. It’s for some arbitrarily extraordinary people. The rest of the “mediocre” people will do fine at other colleges…