@mom2gjd ha! This trick never worked for me but maybe it will for him.
@Trixy34 Are you referring to the “Matt’s Beer Ball”?
Brought back a lot memories. Lol.
@HCatmom Hamilton seems to be the best blend of all you are seeking.
If I had a vote, it would be a big yes!
My reaction is that Bates is best choice. A little extra money, closer to a city, top LAC rep.
However , I don’t think he can lose. The drawbacks at any one school outweighed by the pluses. I look at Bard as the most quirky of the bunch and FM, the preppiest. Oberlin, I’d place next to Bard with Bates and Hamilton in the middle.
@privatebanker - well, I went to college in the early 90s. I think lots of companies made party balls by then Bud and Coors comes to mind), but I’m sure we went through some Matts. But by the time I was of purchasing age, we were limited to cases. (lol) We drank a lot of Old Milwaukee at Hamilton. (Why not Utica Club or Matts? i have no idea). If you had a few empty cases, you could get another one with the returnable bottle deposits. 
And we had the convenience of a drive-through beverage place in Clinton that we fondly dubbed “The Brew-thru.”
It sounds like Bard is out of the running now but just wanted to let @Sue22 know that Bard has a 4/1 MAT program for a teaching credential. https://www.bard.edu/mat/ny/programs/ba-mat/
@SpiritManager, I know Bard has an excellent graduate teaching program. Still a disadvantage to have to spend an extra year in school when he could come out of a 4 year program with teaching credentials. This may all be moot, as the OP mentioned education among a group of other interests.
I feel the same way about 3/2 or 4-1 engineering programs. If engineering is a real contender as a major it’s better to go somewhere where a student can earn the degree within 4 years.
If your son has expressed that a flexible curriculum would be preferred, I wouldn’t count that as an important aspect against Bates. Bates does require general education courses across a variety of disciplines. However, partly as a result of this requirement, your son will have a variety of courses from which to choose that will be oriented toward students whose primary interests reside in other academic areas.
Oh lordy. I have decided that the perfect college for him was the one he didn’t apply to for no good reason. VASSER! Closer to home. Big performing arts. Oh well. Lol. What u dont know when you start this process.
Oh man, HCatmom. Does he have any idea what he wants to study besides theater?
Sue22. I went to oberlin and loved it. But that was a LONG time ago. Of all the colleges it grabbes him the most intellectually.
Remind me why F&M is out of the picture - most expensive?
I would think the Fulton Theatre being right there in Lancaster would be a big draw.
Of his current choices, I’d say that Vassar most resembles Bard and Oberlin by program emphasis and Hamilton by overall academics.
Not the OP here, but given their description of their son the first school I’d knock off the list would be F&M. It’s a school I like but it’s 30% Greek.
Education, environmental studies, humanities.
For environmental studies your son might appreciate Hamilton’s Adirondack term. If he attends elsewhere the program may still be open to him as a visiting student.
Any progress @HCatmom ?
He is asking me to talk him into Bates. He is stressed. He likes Bates vibe. Still worried about choir and theatre.
This statement would seem to contain his decision.
If he loves Bates (easy, btw!), maybe you can talk to him about the big fish in a little pond opportunities. He may not be in a choir that everyone watches on TV on Christmas Eve, but he’s likely to get more solos, ensemble parts, etc. And he’s unlikely to be the only true talent there!
At some level, there’s a lot to be said for that.
Tell him Trixy34 says he should go to Bates. That should do it. 