My D did not apply to U of Mich and the like - while she is a good student, w/ good test scores and gpa, they are just not in that upper echelon category. So she applied to a TON of mid-range schools w/ BFA programs (including our great state schools - IU & Ball State) … the amount of $$ in merit aid she’s been receiving from private colleges makes attending those schools more affordable that our state schools. (Which is actually the case w/ her older sister attending Vanderbilt - our out of pocket is less at Vandy than it would have been w/ IU’s biggest merit scholarship.)
Going into this, we knew being accepted into a decent BFA program was going to be HARDER than my older D being accepted to Vandy (which has an acceptance rate of 12% or so). People talk about the Ivies & the Top 20 being “lottery schools” … they ain’t got nothin’ on a good MT BFA program! 
I’ll stop blathering on … academics are not, did not, and do not play a factor into where she applied or where she will end up going.