<p>K8sdad, I hear ya! My son is a contemporary musician who only wants Berklee, Thorton, or Miami. He auditioned at all 3 so we will wait and see. I was panicked for a while there knowing that we didn’t have an official plan B although we did discuss the option of his band going on tour and maybe taking a gap year. He is very confident and never appeared worried. Fortunately, he was accepted to Berklee EA and is very happy with that. You can imagine how I feel…a sense of relief that mom can now breath 
And yes, you are right, there are no safety schools!!!</p>