<p>Is it worth trying to go for something more prestigious than UT? I like the school but I'd prefer something smaller and more well-regarded (Stanford, Rice, maybe MIT). I feel like I have a good chance of getting into those schools, but I've been told it really doesn't matter since I'll most likely be going into engineering of some sort and UT is pretty decent as far as that goes. </p>
<p>Other info:
I've got automatic admission into UT since I'm top 10% of my class
I live in Houston
Leaning towards Chemical/Biomedical/Mechanical Engineering with an MBA (or maybe even law degree) later on</p>
<p>For most undergraduate engineering degrees, it doesn’t matter where you go. But Stanford and MIT are exceptions. If you can afford it, I’d shoot for those.</p>
<p>Last I read Automatic admission to UT was limited to the top 7%. If your family can afford those other schools (if you have high need they might be better than UT) then apply. They are reaches for everyone. Choose after you’ve got your FA offers.</p>
<p>Unless you consider a good chance 5-10%, no one can predict admissions at the schools you are mentioning. You should check out the admit threads to see who is getting rejected.</p>
<p>University of Texas - Austin is well regarded for engineering.</p>
<p>However, the automatic admit threshold is something like 7%, and automatic admission to the campus does not necessarily mean automatic admission to the engineering division. So you may want to include some other schools as safeties (and if you are not within the automatic admit range, University of Texas - Austin should be considered a reach since only a quarter of the class comes from the non-automatic admits, competing with out-of-state and international students).</p>