Sounds like it’s UNC’s loss because they don’t admit direct to major. Does NC State admit direct to major? It’s very good for STEM degrees and you would save quite a bit of tuition relative to Purdue, which stands out as a great OOS value. Assuming neither admit direct to major and it’s difficult to discern what your chances are, head to Purdue. My son loved it but wasn’t admitted to engineering. They have great facilities, support and job fairs and place around the country.
I wouldn’t think people are majoring in CS just to code at any old job. They probably prefer to start off at a cool start-up with like minded high potential colleagues. Or maybe they’d like to work in consulting or a big company with great perks and projects.