Many National Merit Scholars can go to UT Dallas for free, and many do from Colorado,
but they do not all get into U of Chicago.
It seems that you may want to relax and just figure out what you want to study, and see where you get in,
then choose based on programs, and costs. with that, if you want an MBA or management consulting, Williams College is outstanding. One of my nieces got four offers in management consulting, with a history degree, and Williams is also good to get into many PhD programs. Its unusual to have an LAC that well connected to management consulting and Wall Street jobs, as well as graduate schools, if there is some chance you will go in a business direction, instead of a PhD direction.
Do you want an academic career? Are you interested in teaching? Many smart students go into college with that thought, but change their minds later. For one reason, teaching at an LAC offers lots of freedom but very little salary.
If you want a research career in STEM, then academic careers pay well, and you can also consult on the side.
So think more about what you want to study, as that really has to sustain you, if you want a PhD, you must be very engaged in the subject matter to finish a PhD. There are a LOT of “all but dissertation” folks out there!
Worry a lot less about funding a PhD and a lot more about funding your next four years. While funding for PhD programs in humanities are shrinking, when there is a will , there is a way, usually.
I would go with your in state flagship over UT Dallas, myself, if you mean UT Austin. Its just overall going to expose you to a lot of great people, and research activities. I would not go to UT Dallas myself, if I was interested in research work, but again, since you seem to have no idea what to major in, its very hard to determine which school is a fit,
and that does lead back to LAC or big state school, so you will have choices.
UT Austin is well ranked in English, and chemistry, and physics. Its got the type of people who will understand your PhD goals. Go for that school if you need to save money.