<p>
Again, you are blowing the differences between Duke and Stanford out of proportion.</p>
<p>Weather</p>
<p>[Durham</a> vs Palo Alto](<a href=“http://www.citydiff.com/durham,_california,_united_states-palo_alto,_california,_united_states#average_high_temperature_in_fahrenheit_by_year]Durham”>http://www.citydiff.com/durham,_california,_united_states-palo_alto,_california,_united_states#average_high_temperature_in_fahrenheit_by_year)</p>
<p>Average High Temperature in Fahrenheit by Year
Durham: 75.2 degrees
Palo Alto: 69.3 degrees</p>
<p>[Durham</a> vs Palo Alto](<a href=“http://www.citydiff.com/durham,_california,_united_states-palo_alto,_california,_united_states#average_low_temperature_in_fahrenheit_by_year]Durham”>http://www.citydiff.com/durham,_california,_united_states-palo_alto,_california,_united_states#average_low_temperature_in_fahrenheit_by_year)</p>
<p>Average Low Temperature in Fahrenheit by Year
Durham: 46.8 degrees
Palo Alto: 46.7 degrees</p>
<p>Duke does get 10 more inches of precipitation per year on average and has much hotter summers (about 20 degrees on average) than Stanford but most college students will be off campus during the summers so the latter point is moot. With regards to the former, some students may prefer more rain so this difference could swing the tables either way depending on what a particular student wants.</p>
<p>Sports</p>
<p>Duke’s major weaknesses in athletics in comparison to places like Stanford and USC rest largely in Track & Field and Swimming which are overrepresented in events like the Olympics and even the Director’s Cup. As far as major team sports, Football is the only one that Duke is “weak” in and lets not forget that Stanford has been largely mediocre in football for almost the entire last decade. Its record until recently wasn’t meaningfully better than Duke’s.</p>
<p>Duke has very strong Lacrosse, Golf, Tennis, Soccer, and Basketball programs (Men’s and Women’s). Its Track & Field, Swimming, Wrestling, and Baseball programs could use some work but Stanford isn’t a standout in the latter two sports either.</p>
<p>Unlike most other schools, Duke doesn’t participate at the Division 1 level in Men’s Volleyball, Water Polo, Men’s Rowing, and Men’s Ice Hockey.</p>
<p>At any rate, the only sports that meaningfully impact an undergraduate spectator’s experience is Men’s Football and Men’s Basketball, the latter of which Duke is an undisputed top 5 program.</p>
<p>Academics</p>
<p>Almost all of Duke’s academic programs are ranked within the top 30 so it really doesn’t have any weaknesses in this area. Stanford is stronger in most but Duke isn’t weak enough in any area to claim that it has “weak academics”.</p>
<p>
Harvard and Berkeley are nothing like Stanford with the latter being about 3x times larger and being public school while the former has a vastly different climate and athletic culture. Duke and Vanderbilt are perhaps the closest overall to Stanford but the OP will most likely not be able to get into any of these schools.</p>