This week thousands of 8th and 9th graders are finishing up a season of high school fairs, info sessions, and school tours, designed to help them decide where to apply to high school. After a last thumb-through of the humongous high school directory and a check of school profiles and comments on Insideschools.org, applications must be turned in to guidance counselors by Friday, Dec. 2.

The task of selecting up to 12 high schools to list on an application can be daunting -- for native New Yorkers as well as the many new residents and immigrants. In addition to a list of 12, thousands of students also apply to one of nine specialized high schools, or to a charter school, which requires a different application. Even parents and children who attend all the workshops can get confused when faced with a choice of more than 400 high schools.

For those of you in the throes of high school admissions (or who have recent memories of being there), we'd like to know: Do you feel prepared? Did you get enough guidance about how to apply to high school? Take our poll!