Unfortunately, middle school parents are stuck with the system as it now exists. So I have some practical suggestions.

Keep looking for schools you and your kid could see him/her attending and try to make your list as long as possible. Don't try to game the list: list your schools in order of preference. If there is a school you and your kid both like, see if you can list it twice: e.g., Midwood High School has two different numbers to list, one for humanities, one for math/science. The curriculum is identical for freshman year and kids are free to switch for sophomore year. So if you like the school you can list it twice. If you can, find a cohort group in your kid's middle school to trade info about open houses (which ones really check the list to make sure you are signed up? Which tour or open house really shows you something? What did the kids think?) and other school- or district-specific stuff. And good luck! I am really, REALLY glad we're DONE with NYC school choice! My daughter is a sophomore at Brooklyn Tech and thriving.

Granted, these large “applicant” numbers include any student who listed each of these schools at all. Still, the ranking, algorithmic system of high school choice in New York City means that only the schools, with their amazing lists of potential ninth graders, can have their cake and eat it, too.

This is the core of what is wrong with a failed system.

It's so important to put a safety school as your third or fourth choice and NEVER put a school on the list that you wouldn't want to attend. Just because there are 12 slots doesn't mean you have to fill them all. If you have that safety school in there, hopefully you won't have to be placed in the second round schools.

Personally, I think the whole process is cruel. These are very young kids (many are 13) and the lucky ones (whether by genetics or money for tutors) get their envelopes that first weekend in February while the rest have to sweat it out. I have no idea what we'll do if we're still in the city when my son is applying. Not looking forward to it.

Go back to neighborhood schools,All else is OBFUSCATION!!!
I am retired after 39 years--listen to me!!

Having taught in the system for over 30 years, let me chime in and give my two cents worth. The process of high school selection was/is broken from the very beginning. How to fix it? Very easy. Children should go to their neighborhood zoned schools. It was done that way until the Board of Education changed it. Now students have to go through a maze of applications and stress. If a good student does not want to attend their zoned school, because that school is not a good school anymore, then going to that school will make it better. Students run to other schools because their zoned school went downhill over the years. This is indicative of a school system that is failing.

The system stinks. As a parent going thru this ordeal w/ my 8th grader, it is obviously true that the schools choose and the kids lose. And it has considerably worsened under Bloomberg, who has eliminated many of the locally zoned HS and instead has injected a system of "competition" where only the strongest survive, like a Darwinian jungle. And the worst thing about the system? Once you're in a school, it is nearly impossible to get out to switch schools, no matter how miserable your child is. What meaning does the word "choice" have then?

The issue with the NYC high school choice is not like with the middle schools: there are indeed many choices and there are certainly many DIFFERENT types of schools and programs. That said, it is still an incredible and difficult process, one which trips up nearly ALL the parents who themselves did not go to school in New York or even in the USA. Presumably, at the various 'Fairs' and High School "Info Sessions", much is explained to these parents. In reality, those of us who already have a clue about how the entire high school admissions process is weighted toward high performing students just go about our day without the 'help'.. and those parents of approximately 50% of the city youth entering 9th grade just hope they do it correctly.

More and more, this is the case: not only with Zoned High Schools becoming a thing of the distant past, but also with increasing numbers of well tutored 8th grade students arriving for tests at the various schools.. more students with less stellar records find themselves haphazardly putting schools on their 'ranking list'...And most shockingly: many many guidance counselors in the middle schools know next to NOTHING about the various schools and sorts of requirements -- beyond what the High School Book says, that is. Such a lack on the part of schools to support students and their high school choices has a detrimental effect on students at risk and in need of supports.

NO ONE I speak to outside the city even believes this is how it is done in New York. They just listen incredulously to the tales from our schools and cannot fathom how it could possibly be this crazy!

So: there are many choices, but MANY of the students are simply eliminated from those choices before they are even in middle school. Then, with the middle school 'choice' issue so poorly managed (so few good choices for such a large population of students), that number of unprepared 8th grade students swells. And the minority of students whose parents have figured it out, well those students have been tutored, prepped for auditions, had portfolios of work designed and compiled; THOSE students get their top 'choices'..while the vast majority just crosses their young fingers and hopes it works out for the best... is this the best the Mayor and the team at Tweed he put together can offer? I think NOT.

It is really sad that we don't care about the future,
and place obstacles in the way of students like this one.
I hope some administrator is listening. Thanks for another
great column!

sorry to say.....find a good rabbi or politician

These rules are a quagmire for the average American let alone people from other countries. My suggestion would be to advertise for volunteers to help decipher this complicated school rules. There are many retirees out there that would be happy to spend time assisting in this type of program. After all, children going to high school need to be placed within their choices. If not, this would further
exacerbate the dropout rate. Our children are being prepared to become responsible citizens and an education of their choice is essential. Bev of Boston, MA

Two very, very important factors:

1. Police incidents, reports, arrests -- try to get this information from the school itself or Google for news reports.

2. Chose a school that does NOT have a metal detector.
Paradoxically, they will be safer as they will not
have had as many police incidents. They all still have
security, but metal detectors only create incidents and dno't remove the violent element from the schools.

Stop voting for the democrats and big government
so that good schools can be more easily choosen.

Before you pick a school make a short list of the schools that you are interested in. Then make time to visit each one. This will give you a better idea of the distance you will have to travel. So phone first make an appointment and call in. Don’t rely on something from a list See for yourself. It may be that a school has an open day where you can bring your child to see the facilities. All schools should have such days to let new students see what is on offer.

Before you pick a school make a short list of the schools that you are interested in. Then make time to visit each one. This will give you a better idea of the distance you will have to travel. So phone first make an appointment and call in. Don’t go on something from a list See for yourself. It may be that a school has an open day where you can bring your child to see the facilities. All schools should have such days to let new students see what is on offer.

Go back to neighborhood schools!!! You have no choice.College requirements are the same--law in high school does not make you a lawyer.Start teaching our children how to think and achieve.They have to b e more adept than computers to work in todays society.Skills and critical thinking are the only way to compete with computers!!

It is truly DISGUSTING what goes on with the high school "choice" process. I could tell you many stories of excellent students getting no matches in the first round only to end up in mediocre or horrible schools.

High School search,,,well if you are a Parent of a Special Needs child (depending on their need level ). You have to be very careful in the school you pick. Take it from a Parent who has been through the system and back. MOst times they will send you to your community school and don't give you much options. I found a great high school for my child and was told he couldn't attend that school. Well lets just say two almost three years of fighting we got the school we wanted and ket me tell you it is Brooklyn's Best Kept Secret. P811K Connie Lekas it is worth yor while to check them out amazing the way my son has grown in just two months there!

Parents Making a Difference has created a video to help parents navigate the high school app process. Go to www.pmadnyc.org to view the video.

I currently have an eighth grader that is going through the application process. We fortunately live in Staten Island, which is a different world in education than the rest of the other boroughs. A parent has to devote the time to going to the open houses in the neighborhood. I took a weekend and looked through the catalogue for the requirements, etc. His Middle School held a session during the evening for going through the application process. They also have a open door and open phone policy for contacting the guidance counselor. Since Maria's mom was not familiar with the system it would have benefitted her to make an appointment on her day off with the guidance counselor or have a phone conversation with the counselor. It is defeating when a child in need of services is subject to the failing or not adequate schools as no other choice. That is where they system has failed Maria.

In 8th grade I didn't get into Staten Island Tech by literally one point. I cried for two days. Then I got into my first choice on the application and the end.

I think people over exaggerate about this.