CE PHD here, but I'd definitely appreciate your seat from brown consider I've heard absolutely nothing from them so far. (fyi, I assumed EE n CE are in the same dept and share the same admission cap.) lol. anyway, dont know about Texas since I live in PA, but trust me both DUKE and Brown are prestigious enough to impress potential investors, but I'd still recommend Brown over Duke cuz of the geographic location. Providence is not perfect, but it does have the benefits of being close to Boston. But keep this in mind: silicon valley is in California, wall street is in New York. Hope you can have tons of fun no matter where you end u choosing,