Your independent guide to NYC public schools

A story in today's Times heralded the season of middle school admissions mania, since - according to the newly standardized timeline - the application deadline has been moved up this year to Jan. 9. Parents in the thick of decision-making can search through the thousands of school profiles on Insideschools and find articles and blog posts outlining the process. If you want to talk to other parents also wading through applications, head to our discussion forums. To hear about one family's experience with the process last year, read all of Liz Willen's columns called Middle School Muddle. Good luck - there are a lot of excellent middle schools out there!