Mine took violin lessons at college, played in the orchestra, there was a chamber opportunity, and later joined a college fiddle group (not a pick-up group, it was a pretty serious campus thing.) She also used violin in an ongoing community project to bring music and training to a target group.
Try to take a look at how many different music opportunities there are, at your target colleges, academic and other. At the school I work for, there are multiple groups and opportunities to accompany or play in a pit orchestra.