@intparent I don’t think that is at all true for a music student. I am not talking about academic merit or financial aid.
Many kids can have tremendous growth in a gap year and I know several that went on to score very large talent scholarships at schools they were not even admitted to the year before.
As for transfers, I think it’s always a concern for music kids because so many schools will not accept music credits from other schools. But, in reality, I think that is something that should be looked into on a school by school basis, because I don’t know that it is true across the board.