<p>Well, hopefully you’ll get into your dream school with a great scholarship! But, just in case, you do have options.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Apply only to top conservatories. If you don’t get in, or you don’t get the merit aid you want/need, take a gap year and try again. (This worked for a friend who had specific desires and was willing to spend the year focused on her instrument.)</p></li>
<li><p>Apply to top conservatories, match schools and a couple of safeties with good music departments. Love thy safety. If that’s where you end up, you can still study music, and you might even get a great scholarship. (This was D3’s approach. She switched to her audition instrument in her senior year and wasn’t sure if she’d be competitive in the pool. It gave her sufficient choices that she pondered the decision until the night before the deposit was due.)</p></li>
<li><p>Apply to a mix of schools for music and schools for regular academics. If you don’t get into the music schools, go to one of the other ones and participate as a nonmajor in the orchestra/band. (This worked for a friend who was on the fence about majoring in music or something else. Gave her the time she needed until April to decide which path to follow.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Being afraid you won’t be accepted is perfectly natural. Being realistic about where you stand is also important. Make sure you take sample lessons and gather solid professional opinions that will allow you to more accurately gauge where you might stand in the applicant pool. But try not to lose sight of what made you love music in the first place.</p>