Ok well it's middle school transition but Secondry Education topic is nearest relevant I could find.
Sorry if this complicated.
Our half of the borough is a two tier system and we have 4 middle schools to choose from. The area is made up a large town and several villages around it. We live in one of the villages.
3 middle schools are in the town, 1 is in another of the villages. This 4th one is the designated school for the first schools in the surrounding villages. These schools are named as a higher admission criteria than the first schools in the town probably because we would all lose out on distance criterias every time.
So one of the town middle school is very very good and therefore very popular. Most people in our village don't bother applying because it usually has a last admitted distance of 0.5mile. This (next) year they are extending the intake from 3 forms to 4 and we are 0.9miles away and have decided to chance it and put this school as our first choice.
We are happy with the designated school so this is our second choice. The other two in the town are ok but distance/direction/friendships/free buses make these less preferable for us.
So basically, has my gamble on the popular school hindered our chances in getting in the designated school? Many thanks.