<p>Yeah, I don’t see the need to turn down UT-Austin for your field given what we know about you. Even with merit aid, while I would give serious consideration to USC if costs are about the same (personally, I’d pick them), I wouldn’t pick Purdue if costs are the same unless I preferred the Midwest over TX as a post-grad location.</p>
<p>BTW, I understand the feeling. I went to a magnet HS whose grads were almost guaranteed admission to our state flagship. So going there didn’t feel like any sort of acheivement. Yet the flagship was stellar in the field I ended up majoring in. I went to an elite private instead (cost was only a little bit more because I was heavily dependent on fin aid). However, while going to the school I did might have helped me, looking back 20 years later, I frankly don’t think I would have done worse if I had gone to the flagship instead (might have done better; like many in my HS, a few kids from my HS a few years younger than me went to the flagship . . . . . then they went to Silicon Valley and started companies).</p>
<p>As for not taking your parents’ money, that’s going to be hard to do unless you go to a school lower in brand than UT-Austin (getting full-tuition from either Purdue or USC appears difficult from where I sit). Can your parents comfortably pay for in-state?</p>