CS PhD: UC Berkeley vs UT Austin

[poorTestTaker]

Really conflicted on where I should go. I've been working in the industry for a couple of years so I saved up enough to afford my own place in a city like Austin. But I also don't care THAT much about money; after all I'm quitting my SWE job to be a broke PhD student.

Entrepreneurship is my #1 goal. If I fail, I'd rather go into academia than come back to industry.

I think Berkeley stands out because the Bay Area is startup Mecca but I've also heard that the workload is intense and half the admits get filtered out by the prelims. I do want to try to start something while I'm in school and not 5+ years later...

Do I take the gamble on Berkeley and see if I can have a reasonable WLB or do I take UT and see if I can make something happen there with a fraction of the Bay Area's resources and talent?

In terms of research and advisors, I'd say Berkeley is slightly stronger but they felt more cutthroat. 

[DrF8]

Sounds like your goal is to create a startup. If that's your goal, why are you getting a PhD?

[brewing]

It sounds like his goal is to meet people with which to work on a startup (very unrealistic, IMHO)

[poorTestTaker]

1 hour ago, brewing said:

It sounds like his goal is to meet people with which to work on a startup (very unrealistic, IMHO)

Yes this my goal. I want to be a technical founder (CTO, CSO) at a research based startup. Easy to find CEOs at MBA programs IMO.

[l_c_99]

I am finishing my undergrad at UT, and it is great. It is also growing a lot, and so many people from California are coming to Austin and Texas in general.