I’ll offer another dimension that maybe just specific to Tisch but I doubt it. One needs to examine the graduation requirements of a particular program to get an idea of how many years it will take to get through it. As an example, NYU Tisch requires a minimum of 48 credits from “professional training” which is code for their studio classes. As far as I know, they don’t transfer any studio type credits from other schools. (I’m not the expert but I think this is correct.) Studio classes combined at Tisch earn you 8 credits per semester. Doing the math, that means 6 semesters needed to complete the minimum requirements… in other words, 3 years in studio is the minimum.
Real life example: My daughter (rising senior) has a classmate that was in her freshman group who was a transfer from another school. Though he was with the freshman MTs, this was his 2nd year of college. He graduated from NYU this past spring. a full year ahead of my daughter even though he was in her grade for MT classes. His total time in college was 4 years. I actually don’t know the particulars of his story but I assume he was done with degree requirements for Tisch because he hit his 48 and he also had enough things that did transfer like maybe the theatre studies classes (28 credits needed), general education classes (32 credits needed) and electives (20) to have fulfilled graduation requirements. 3 years and out of NYU plus a year somewhere else even though he was always in studio with students that started college a year after he did.
Long way of saying that even though you might have to start as a freshman if you transfer, it doesn’t always mean you will have to elongate your time in college. It depends on the specifics of a program’s graduation requirements.