Very interesting. I used to live in TX and my family still does. I left after 9th grade, but it was already clear the pull UT and TAMU had. Even so, there were small groups of kids who wanted nothing other than to leave the state for college. Almost all of these were not born and raised Texans.
We are in VA now, and while UVA is certainly a great school, it is not at ALL a fit for my older kid. So she is not applying. We tried to push her to apply, even if as a “backup”, due to the great education and reputation. We agreed to let it go, after seeing from data from the HS that a good chunk of kids from the school do not apply at all–and instead go to an LAC or smaller RU. My second kid, however, will likely apply. “Fit” is very emphasized at our school and I am glad, since I now realize what a bad fit UVA would be for the older one.