Agreed that UT Austin and TAMU don’t give much merit although I do know an honors engineering student at TAMU who received merit.
UT Dallas does give full tuition scholarships lowering costs below $15k. They have rolling admission so apply now and find out soon.
Just wondering if there are circumstances in which you would go over your desired cost of $15k.
Many of what are considered elite colleges and universities only give need based aid although their need based packages may match some other schools merit packages. Check the Ivy League net price calculators and see what you get. Elite schools don’t need to offer merit aid to attract students.
There are many very good colleges that do give merit. It all depends on what you mean by high ranking.