Choice enrollment

So now I know what they mean when people talk about getting into schools shouldn't be a lottery drawing. Well, unfortunately, for us it is. We've applied for 3 schools and all of them are choice enrollment, meaning we are put into a lottery with all the other children hoping to get in. And we'll see who makes it in. Our assigned school is horrible. They scored a 4 out of 10 on greatschools.org. Not ok with me at all. I narrowed it down to 3 schools within 5 miles of our house after about 15 hours of research this last week. "Who ever though it would be so difficult," another lady trying to enroll her child said to me today. I totally agree. I am optimistic she will get into one of them! Hopefully!! At least the first part is over. We are only looking for a half day and no preference if it's AM or PM, somebody's got to accept us :).