Not the original commenter, but a fellow City grad. The full IB program can be very demanding and takes a huge toll on the students who choose that path, but it is also possible to do a partial IB course load combined with AP or standard curriculum courses, which from my experience is much more realistic for the average student to complete without taxing them too heavily.

As someone who was accepted to both schools and chose to go to City, I would recommend City over BSA. I know several people who went to BSA and all of them have various horror stories about the faculty/administration there across all the programs, as well as having issues with the incredibly clique-y nature of social life amongst the students. Bullying by both teachers and students was sadly common for many BSA students I know. Bullying did exist at City, but not anywhere close to the extent that it did at BSA.

Additionally, the academic side of BSA is woefully lacking compared to a school like City, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you consider that roughly 9 out of 10 of the friends I have who went to BSA never pursued their field of artistic study after school due to disillusionment or lack of career opportunities, it would be safe to say that BSA left them totally unprepared for success after high school. And if your child is pursuing the dance program at BSA, the teachers go out of their way to breed lifelong eating disorders in their students, not to mention many well-substantiated claims of sexual misconduct and grooming by certain faculty members with their students across all the programs.

Granted, these are all based on experiences from students who attended BSA between 2009 and 2015, but to my understanding, only a bare minimum effort has gone into remedying these rampant institutional issues. And again, City is by no means perfect, and I have plenty of complaints based on my own experience there, as well as the experiences of fellow students, but the severity and quantity of those complaints pale in comparison to BSA. City has some great IB art programs and the theater department is surprisingly good as well, so your child would have opportunities to pursue those interests if they so choose.

Overall, both schools have their merits, but City gave me a very well-rounded education that set me up for success in college and in life after school, which I can't say is as common for BSA, especially if your child chooses to not pursue their artistic interests professionally after high school. Most successful artists I know from my high school years went to more standard high schools or magnet schools like City.

City also has a very inclusive and open social scene for students to thrive and make lifelong friends within, which I absolutely cannot say the same of for BSA. Those are just my thoughts and observations, but I hope they were helpful!

Edit: My friends who attended BSA have almost unanimously told me that they wish they had gone to City instead.