UT Austin is a difficult OOS admit. Don’t expect aid.
NYU does very little merit and does not meet 100%. Is it a good school. Yes? But of course someone who goes will say it’s worth the high price or they’d be diminishing their experience. Since you are cost/debt conscious and I applaud that, your time would be better spent on other schools.
Whoever said publics don’t give merit is wrong. You have to find the right publics. U of A and to a lesser extent ASU are phenomenal. U of Al, Florida State, Arkansas, UAH, U T Knoxville, Mizzou, Minnesota, UCF, LSU. Utah and New Mexico too. Wyoming, CU Boulder etc So many schools have great merit aid. Hofstra would get you close to NYC is aggressive. Many on CC talk about Fordham. But I still struggle that you want to save housing cost.
That’s why I urge you to look at W&L which, in my opinion, is superior to NYU. SMU also has full rides and forget the name, it’s not religious like that…Jews, Muslims, etc. btw the other LACs don’t have something like the Johnson which goes to 10% of students. They have other tuition only scholarships. Their endowment is huge.
https://www.smu.edu/admission/CampusLife/SpiritualLife
Your efforts will help you get the roles you want. Yes it will be harder from ASU yet not impossible to consult which will more likely require a few years of work and an elite mba. And you’ll save a ton. With the internet, your ability to network will matter most. Going to a top school, even Harvard, is no guarantee but top schools do open the doors a bit wider. But if your parents save $200k or more…well that’s big. Good luck