To do it non-cynically, you would need to, by coincidence, truly want to do exactly those things that are needed to get in: the same causes, organizations, and activities. That coincidence is unlikely.
It's not hard to be an outlier, if you set your mind to it. It's a lot easier than playing the game at a sufficient level to be admitted.
I was an outlier, and now I'm raising my kid to be an outlier.
But yeah, there is a culture of corruption spanning the upper tier.