Networking is key. It depends where you want to live. Notre Dame is much more of a national school than UNC.
My kids wanted to live in Austin and work as engineers in the high tech start-up community, so they went to UT-Austin. They are very happy — except during the 110F summer heat.
That is great. Austin is a fun place for young people beginning their careers. My cousins kid just graduated with a phd in pharmacy. He visited Austin last month to check things out.