In case you haven’t seen this already: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/1884486-bme-jhu-v-rice.html#latest
I would also add that difficulty finding research experiences during freshman (and even sophomore) year, as you mentioned for UT, in my mind, is a huge problem. I discuss in the link above (and elsewhere on this site) the importance of early, meaningful research experiences for any science major. This is where you learn marketable skills, reinforce what you learn in class and gain experiences and professional networking that will help in your career, grad school entry, etc. Speak with more UT students and see if this is a common problem, if it is, then I would most definitely say it is worth the extra 10k, unless you are confident that you can fight your way through the masses and get those prized research spots.