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Slovesviola - I can't address Hartt or viola teachers specifically. (Violadad's your guy there!) But we found ourselves in situations a couple times, where digging a little deeper helped us get a better understanding of what was going on. I'll share some of our experiences to explain.
1. S2 (horn player)'s teacher steered him away from a couple schools for one reason or another. When everything else about the school seemed positive, and this was the only negative, we didn't necessarily cross it off the list. This is where it really helps to have more than one professional contact - like from summer camps. When we started hearing the same sort of thing over and over, we took it more seriously.
2. It helps to know exactly what the teacher doesn't like, and why. Sometimes it just means the teacher is having a bad day! Once I made careful notes about a school the teacher told S2 NOT to apply to, and the next time I saw him, he actually recommended the school to us!
There was one school where one of S2's teacher and the school's teacher have had some sort of falling out or ego-bruising. It took awhile to figure this out. All we knew was that many people raved about this school, and S2's teacher was discouraging him from applying. (The teacher never said anything bad or slanderous; he's not that kind of teacher! So it was hard to figure out what was going on. We finally pried enough out of him to make a guess.) S2 ultimately did not apply there, for several reasons. But the discord between the two teachers may have sealed S2's fate, anyway!
3. There were times when teachers were able to give us very specific advice simply because they knew S2, and they knew the teachers at the school - and they had an idea of what sort of teacher S2 would do best with. In general, we found this to be pretty accurate advice. However, I have to say that S2 ended up studying with someone that one of his teachers had told him "wouldn't be the best teacher for you." And it was a perfect fit.
4. Some of the teachers advising S2 had "inside information." They knew when there was a shake-up in the music department, or infighting among the section, etc. I know we wouldn't have gotten this kind of info from the college itself.
5. We took all info with a grain of salt - simply one more piece to consider. Remember that it's one person's opinion. How much you revere and respect that person will change how much you weight the opinion, of course!
There are no perfect schools out there. S2's final list had 4 good schools on it; none of them perfect. The school he chose has been criticized by many for one thing or another. He's been happy as a clam, though.
In your situation, I certainly think your S should proceed with his application. It sounds like a place where he has a good chance. And early notification (as long as it isn't binding in any way) can be wonderful to have going into later auditions. Something calming about knowing that you have options!
Meanwhile, your S is going to probably have the chance to explore some more schools, visit some more teachers, and find several places he'd be happy at.
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