Not true, at all.
Steel has had 3 kids go to those schools, and none were top 5%.
And your estimates for living expenses is wildly inaccurate. $25,000 to live for 9 months on College Station? Not hardly. You can get a decent apartment in CS for $4-500 (Steel has done this). Total cost including tuition without any assistance is under $20k.
When? - 10 years ago?
you might check the state published entrance standards if you don’t think you have to be top of your class (except athletes) to get in to either- at least out of high school
I have a grandkid at both right now - I help pay for both every month and every semester
you can’t sign a 9 month lease in either city to start - so you are wrong on that front
with the new apartments in college station starting at $2k/month - every rent in town doubled in the last decade unless you want to live 20 mins from campus and drive. Home prices have gone crazy since they moved to the SEC and rents for those are even worse
you can’t live in the Youth Hostile in Austin anywhere near UT for $500/month. You have to get well over 20 mins from campus to see anything close to that. Anything that would be considered close enough to campus to not being a commuter student is going to run you twice that to start and you better find roommates to get it that low.
then you have to pay commuting expenses for car, gas, parking and the cost of living in a city that is 30% more expensive than Ft Worth
and again - if you got into UT out of high school and had applied to TCU with early acceptance - your would have most likely qualified for enough aid to make the difference pretty small
It’s not the same level but acting like UT or Aggy is so cheap so why doesn’t everyone just go there is not true at all