Is conservatory audition basically different from competitions in that...

[cardinals]

...they look more on potentials than technical or musical perfection?

Actually I couldn't understand this because...I thought the professors would prefer those who can play with less mistakes...you know, in many competitions, it is hardly possible to get good points once messing up the whole passage no matter how they play extremely well the other parts...

Also, could you tell me exactly what kind of potentials they are looking for when auditioning the students?