It's easier to gain reputation if you are fine with cutting corners here and there, or even make up things as long as no one can see that. And once you are at Harvard (or Duke for that matter), most people wouldn't even question your credibility.

EDIT: And to the point of not being able to fake that data well. Yeah, again, if we are in the business of getting credit points quickly, faking the data quickly makes sense too. No one would take a close look, right?