Harvard's total number of Rhodes Scholars, 295 since the American Rhodes program was instituted in 1904, still exceeds all other universities. Yale is second, with 200 total scholars and Princeton follows with 182 winners

In an e-mail message, Dean of College Harry R. Lewis '68 wrote that the final competition results do not reflect poorly on the students or on the college itself.

"I am disappointed of course, not for Harvard but for the many outstanding individual students Harvard endorsed," Lewis said. "I don't have any reason to think this is anything but a random fluctuation, but we will certainly try to learn what we can about the competition this year."

Seth D. Familian '01, one of the Harvard finalists, said he was frustrated by the final selection process.

"There was shared frustration among the candidates who weren't chosen because we felt we weren't being asked questions that really showed our personalities," Familian said. "They asked narrow questions outside the scope of our projects. I was particularly frustrated because the committee didn't seem as interested in the unconventional mode that I was studying."

Familian said he was told by Rhodes officials during one of their cocktail events that he was the first candidate studying visual arts who was being seriously considered for the scholarship.

He said he did not get the impression that the selection process had any biases against specific colleges or universities.

"I didn't feel it was about colleges, but about the people," he said. "I felt comfortable at the state round, and in the final round, there was the same focus on people and who they were."