@StanfordAI2019 I just cackled out loud at my desk at work–so now everyone knows I’m not doing my job this morning! 
@mtmama2024 another thing to keep in mind is whether your kid is motivated to take the initiative and make things happen. My son’s high school friend is a senior at one of the top two theatre colleges in their theatre tech program. He is getting excellent training for sure. But this is also a kid who makes things happen. In his senior year of high school, he was stage dooring it at a Broadway show and had such a love for theatre tech that he recognized the stage manager as the guy exited the theatre. Practically no one at a stage door recognizes anyone coming out of that door unless it’s one of the lead performers. This kid was excited to see the stage manager and talked to him, authentically complimenting him and asking questions. The stage manager invited the kid back to shadow/observe, an opportunity that the kid jumped on. He made a connection with that guy and others while he was there. Every single summer, winter break, and spring break since then, he has worked behind the scenes on Broadway shows, from Clockwork Orange to Beetlejuice. He comes away with connections, experience, and even gets paid because he reached out and didn’t miss an opportunity to climb the ladder.
Whichever program your kid chooses, if he is hungry for it and REALLY wants this profession, regardless of which program he chooses (I’m sure you’re weighing all aspects to find whatever might end up being a great program for him), he will take all the classes that will help him, audition for all the shows, seek feedback even if it hurts, even audition professionally during college if his college allows that, network with people he can learn from and truly likes to work with, and (as Thoreau and Dead Poets Society preached) “live deeply and suck out all the marrow of life!”