In the media and in the public imagination the name “Harvard” has long been short-hand for “prestigious, great school that really smart people go to.” To a lesser extent Stanford, Princeton, and Yale fulfill this role too, and so does MIT if we are talking about science and math smarts. But Harvard still gets the public attention in a way the others only partially do.
By analogy, the name “Ferrari” is short-hand for fast, sexy, glamorous, and expensive sports car even though some Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, and even Corvettes maybe just as sleek and fast, if not faster, than many Ferraris. But the Ferrari name is still golden. It’s the same with Harvard.