Question that I don’t know where to post anywhere else, except CC. Desperate for some insight and guidance. Don’t wanna give too much away in case this is stumbled upon later, but here goes:
My S is a sophomore at a large state university, ranked #225ish nationally, but unranked/mostly unknown in the theater arts department. He is a double BFA major in professional acting and, as of next semester, musical theatre too. The student aid is meh, and we have to pay the rest of the tuition and room and board, even though it isn’t much.
On a lark he applied to transfer to one of the top #30 nationally-ranked universities in the country. Not only did he get in, but he got an enormous amount of financial aid-almost a full ride-and admitted into their dramatic arts program. They are not super well-known for this BA (not BFA) program, but they are one of the oldest theater departments in the country, and additionally, they have a very highly ranked MFA in dramatic arts.
They are well-connected with a professional theater company and an undergraduate level theater company. Again, the school is almost like a public ivy.
The question is, what is the best thing to do? Obviously the new school is amazing, but would he be suffering going from his current fairly unknown (and not on any lists around here on CC to speak of) BFA double major MT/Acting to an also fairly unknown BA Drama program?
The prospective school will likely have better connections down the road and also has a bit of a better potential to get into their prestigious MFA too. Like I said, it’s an in-state school but also a top 30 school in the country, so the alumni network is strong.
I was also thinking going to a school like the new school’s prestige would make it a bit easier to get into an MFA program down the road somewhere else as well, though I don’t really know if it not being a BFA would hurt him. People there tend to say it’s a BA that acts like a BFA, but I don’t know how much that applies down the road. Obviously he would not get the musical theater training at the new school either.
Help! We really need to make a decision soon. I obviously would like him to go to the more prestigious school, maybe, but I also don’t want to hurt him, if the double major BFA from his current, but fairly unknown, school is somehow a better thing. Also, his current school’s faculty and leadership has kind of gone down in quality over the past 5 years, and even though the main acting teacher is still very prestigious, he’s let my S. know that his (the professor’s) days may be numbered teaching there.
Thank you everyone so much! For any insight! 
P.S. He does love and enjoy his current school and friends, even though he’s had some annoyances about the caliber of some parts of the program here and there, he’s been very successful there and has a 4.0. However, he fits in pretty easily wherever he goes, so I think he would enjoy the new school just as much.
Additionally, this new school was one of his dream schools when he was in high school, but he didn’t get accepted back then as a high school student. Since it’s a BA, it’s a non-audition program, so he did not get into the school back then, based on how wildly competitive the school is for freshman. Also, the new school is also two hours away from the old school, and he’s worried about telling his girlfriend, so there’s that. 
Any advice is welcome, and thank you!
