I'm not in CAP21 but in another Tisch studio but, in any case, no offense taken. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, regardless of how uninformed they happen to be.

Your comments about conservatory vs. university really are a little bit off, because although, obviously, NYU is a university, Tisch's training is as much a conservatory as any total conservatory experience. The advantage is that you also have the opportunity to avail yourself of the many advantages of being part of a large, well-respected university. The benefit of that is the reason that many of us are able to double major.
In terms of how 'elite' it is, the selectivity is fairly equal among all of the top programs; NYU, UM, CMU, CCM, OCU, Syracuse, Ithaca, Penn State, etc. At Tisch, there are generally in the range of 3000 who audition each year, with around half of those who specify CAP21 as their primary studio choice. Tisch, overall, enrolls approximately 300 with 60 or so of those going to CAP21. So, although it's true that it's the largest drama program in the country, they have more applicants than the other programs, thus still making it as selective.
Tisch is not for everyone, there's no question about that. That's why it's important for kids to research lots of programs, visit, and then select a list where they feel they can be happy, in addition to having a range of programs, in terms of reach, match, safety (kind of an oxymoron in MT programs). There will be a range of abilities at every college program. I have friends at almost every drama program across the country because I went to an arts h/s where a lot of the kids have pursued it into college.
Every college has produced talented and successful performers, both in NYC and regionally. While it's interesting to look at the alumni, and Tisch certainly has a large number of very successful working actors, playwrights, directors, designers, etc., that really shouldn't be the main focus in your decision making as to where to apply. The fact is that most people in this business have NO college degree but that doesn't mean that we should all just forget college and start auditioning. We all need to find the school which offers what we're looking for, in the location we're looking for, which has a good reputation in the business side of the theatre world, and which we have a reasonable chance of being accepted into (probably most importantly).
Good luck with CCM and UMich (not, btw, a conservatory any more than Tisch is

). Where else are you applying?