It's certainly true that the USMC used to give the top scorers in training their choice of aircraft. In my era the choice was the F18, because it's sexy, goes fast and is a great machine.
Unfortunately, a monkey could fly an F18 and it doesn't need the cream of the classes to fly it. This is a GOOD thing because flying the aircraft should be 0.5% of the flight; the majority being employing the aircraft in its role as a fighter/bomber i.e. operating it. The Harrier, on the other hand, has so many foibles that the monkey needs to be a LOT more capable and not the dross at the back of the class.
I did an exchange tour with the USMC and was a guest of General Blott one evening (it being a cross-country land-away with his son....also a Harrier driver and also a Harry). The good General asked me why I thought the USMC had had so many recent incidents in the Harrier and I pontificated on my theory above; pointing out that the RAF/RN only took single-seat recommended pilots for their Harrier program and they didn't get that by being second. The General promised to look into it and I became very unpopular with the classes that graduated afterwards because the good guys were off to the AV8B
To be honest, that AV8B II+ was/is a fantastic toy and has many of the gizmos that an F18 has anyway. True, it can't go supersonic (it really, really can't......I tried and it's just too draggy) but, then again, an F18 can only hover once and then can't be re-used