Placement exams are for placement in classes and aren’t used for admission or for aid eavluation to my knowledge. Don’t worry about your performance on them. And also be aware that some students who do well, still start with the intro classes because every school is a little different.
Portfolio is important, of course, and sometimes the interview IS the audition, sometimes there are other components, and sometimes there is an instrumental portion. Those are all important, but not placement exams 
Some schools include need in their scholarships but freestanding conservatories tend to focus only on merit.
Here is Peabody: https://peabody.jhu.edu/audition-apply/financial-aid-scholarships/ They have both merit and financial aid.
Did your family or you do a FAFSA and CSS Profile before 2/15? Peabody needs both. Mannes needs only the FAFSA (which generally means less financial aid)
Does Mannes offer scholarships?
Yes. Mannes awards merit-based scholarships to applicants based on the review of their applications and auditions. Scholarship awards are determined by a committee of faculty members, administrators, and financial aid advisors after the auditions. Federal financial aid is also available to U.S. citizens through the FAFSA .
What can you tell me about financial aid?
New School Student Financial Services strives to ensure that all qualified students attending Mannes benefit from the broad array of financial aid programs available, including scholarships, grants, and loans.
Need-based scholarships, loans, and federal grants are available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents who submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA code: 002780). This application can be obtained online at www.fafsa.ed.gov .
Someone on this board got a hefty merit scholarship at New School two years ago, but not sure about Manne’s aid level for composition.
In general in my experience with several students, merit aid for composition tends to be around $15-20k.
