<p>There most definitely was a time when Berkeley was considered academically better than Stanford (and, arguably it still is.)</p>
<p>In another thread (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/931610-how-did-stanford-duke-mit-get-so-prestigious-3.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/931610-how-did-stanford-duke-mit-get-so-prestigious-3.html</a>), see this:</p>
<p>Of course, there are other perceptions of Stanford:
In his book “100 Semesters”, William Chace (Emory President Emeritus) describes that he first saw Stanford in 1961 and said it was what his Berkeley professors said it was: “something of an undergraduate country club, populated largely by California students from wealthy families…”</p>