I'm willing to bet that for every one student that "always got the bottom chairs" and eventually made the band, 5 saw that they placed 86 out of 90 and said "forget it".

As far as "trophy chasing" is concerned...isn't there scholarship money at the end of the rainbow?

Like someone else said, this is an audition; a demonstration that you are the most deserving person for the position. Kind of like...I don't know...a job interview? How many of us applied for an open position where the school received 35 applications, and they brought in and interviewed all 35 applicants? A school that did that is either: 1. desperate, 2. crazy, or 3. has a lot of free time on their hands.

Think before you say, "that's different".