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Your son must disclose his fleeting attendance at his first college to all of his transfer schools, but — because he earned no grades or credits there — "The Dean" can't think of any college that would treat him as a transfer. However, The Dean can't think of every college. So your son needs to query each of his prospective transfer institutions about how to proceed, just to confirm that none of them has an anomalous policy. This potentially tedious process, however, could offer a silver lining.
Your son should begin by identifying his admissions representative at all of his current BFA schools. Ordinarily, this rep is the admissions official who oversees applicants from a student's high school, and the contact information can be found on the college website or via a quick phone call to the admissions receptionist. At this point, your son should assume that he will still fall under the purview of the staff member who handles his former high school. (If a college wants to assign him elsewhere, they'll let him know.) He should email this rep, explain his situation, and ask if he will be viewed as a freshman. This is an excellent way for him to make contact with an individual who may be playing a key role in his admission decision and to demonstrate interest in the school. If your son has additional questions, this is an appropriate time and place to ask them (but he should first make sure that the answers can't be easily found online).
Although it may be tempting for your son to want his initial, aborted enrollment to simply vanish, he must report it or the omission could be viewed as dishonesty down the road and thus lead to serious consequences. However, there is really no downside to your son disclosing his false start, as long as he uses his applications (and other correspondence with admission folks) to make a convincing case for why he's getting it right this time around.
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