I have to echo what @soozievt said. My son is a very strong student but since he wants a BFA intensive type program he is looking at the program first and the university second. They key is the training you will get, not the academics outside of the BFA. Now, if what you want is a BA and have exposure to other fields of study or even a double major then I think you do put the school first and program second.
In our case we did want our son to experience a full college experience so we did encourage schools that provided that. But the academic reputation was second to the quality of the BFA program. The good news is he’s been offered several nice academic scholarships!