@yorkside - welcome!!!
As for a start on answering your question about pros/cons of conservatory vs not, or BFA/BA - it really depends on what you are looking for in a college experience. Does your D want to do theater EXCLUSIVELY - or are they interested in something more rounded? One of the key things to learn is that there are MANY paths… you need to find the one that feels right for your kid
As for lists… I don’t think there really is one “perfect” list… or if there is, I have never seen it. But tbh - that’s not different than “regular” college rankings- if you went to the overall parent’s forum right now I bet you could find a thread arguing about Harvard vs Stanford vs whatever. What I did with lists was to check methodology (there wa done a couple years ago written by students from a particular college, low and behold their was number 1 - shocking) and then to looked for schools that showed up on multiple lists.
Performance opportunities- this is a good question to ask during tours/interviews. Some schools guarantee, some do not. Yet another question to ask yourself is- are you looking for a program that focuses on process (training) or result (performance- being in the max # of shows).
And finally, summer programs- I think they are fantastic- b/c they give a kid a chance to “taste” what college level training is about (which may not be something they have experienced). CMU has a great precollege program you might want to add to your check out
The VERY best advice I can give you is to keep an open mind as you look - decide on what YOU (plural, meaning your family/kid etc) want the college experience to be- and head in that direction.
BAL!