Note that MIT has a quality of life score of 71 and Duke a quality of life score of 67.
I think what else may be happening with NU and Duke is that, because these are highly ranked schools with big time athletics programs comparable to SEC schools, some of the kids went for that, and they didn’t realize that the rigor of the academics is more comparable to MIT’s (and the Ivies’) than to any SEC school’s.
So if you want challenging academics and to learn (and to have better prospects than from any SEC school), go to NU. If you want a pretty campus and easy grades, NU is not for you.