<p>“It seems like the best you can hope for in merit scholarship money at a conservatory is to reduce the cost to the level of other expensive schools.”</p>
<p>In my experience, most conservatories will give deserving applicants enough merit-based money to reduce the cost to the level of an inexpensive school (i.e. a public university): for example, San Francisco Conservatory, Juilliard, NEC, Cleveland Institute. The “deserving bar” may be high, but as other posters have mentioned, potential music performance majors need to seriously consider whether music performance is the right major for them. The amount of merit money they receive can help them determine their ability and the appropriateness of a music major.</p>