That is a great insight @wis75 ! Thanks for sharing it.
The decision was hard. We found the Texas schools which have similar ECs and coursework to offer. Also, tried to find something for our younger DS who is polar opposite to DD. Luckily, they both make friends easily.
She is currently in the top 5-10% of her large, fairly competitive school.
Due to various GPA calculation differences in Texas and CA SDs (6-4points vs 5-4 points, A+ vs A etc), her adjusted GPA lies in the bottom 35-40% range of Texas schools class. 3-4 Texas schools offered to test her to take preAP but not APs while 30-50% Texas students were taking APs in the same class; keeping her back again.
Texas public University system is largely driven by class rank. We had to consider other options like OOS/ private colleges for her admission in this light.
After moving to Texas, the saving would not have been in the 40-50k/year range to afford OOS or private college for 2 kids over the short span of 3-6 years.
We are not very hung up on any one particular public or private college yet. D will see how things pan out and then will know how to proceed.
If relocation becomes inevitable due to job scenario, we will have to leave our current friendly, adorable neighborhood.
Both the states offer us many other points to enjoy life.