Bullying: I would worry less about bullying in BS than in LDS or LPS. Do you know what might be behind his concerns? I ask because if it’s because he has always been the “smart” kid or the “nerdy” kid, and that’s not super celebrated in his public school system, I think he might be pleasantly surprised by how much that is celebrated in many BS settings. You mentioned not being sporty, but I’d love to hear more about your son so we could make some suggestions for your preliminary list.
College matriculation – you’ll hear different versions of this throughout the board here, but basically the advice can be boiled down into: all of these schools will prepare your son well, and comparing matriculation lists is hard to do because of the impact of legacies and sports recruits. Bottom line: don’t go to BS because you want to improve chances of getting into a top college. (I’m paraphrasing and shortcutting, but didn’t want not to address your question.)