All New York City eighth-graders must submit an application to attend public high school, choosing up to 12 options from more than 400 schools. (And there's a separate application process for the specialized high schools.)

The point of having so many choices means, in theory, that students can pursue their interests. They can attend a school anywhere in the city, beyond the confines of a school zone or borough. But many families find the process stressful. Or, at a minimum, demanding.

Students and their parents must research schools and programs; attend high school fairs, open houses and school tours; and prepare for the specialized high school admissions test, auditions or interviews, if applicable.

Debbye Turnbull is going through the process not once, but twice. 

"Ask the boys how organized I am," she said one recent evening at her home in Brooklyn.  

"The boys" are her twin sons, KyMoy and KyJahmy Phillip, who have very different high school priorities. Their mother has a neatly labeled folder for each of them. She also has two high school directories, both tagged with sticky notes, one at home and and another at the office. 

"I go to work and look at it," she said, "and I dissect it without the kids around so I can actually read about the school."

The brothers currently attend J.H.S. 88 Peter Rouget in Park Slope. They have accepted the idea that they will have to attend different schools for the first time. 

"He likes tech; I like dance," KyMoy said. 

While KyMoy is looking for arts programs, KyJahmy wants schools with a strong engineering or computer science program. KyMoy is willing to travel for school, whereas KyJahmy would rather stay close to home in Brooklyn. 

"Sometimes you just gotta part ways," KyJahmy said. "We'll probably get used to it." 

The family calendar is full of school tours, open houses and auditions. KyMoy participated in an arts audition boot camp over the summer at Lincoln Center to prepare for auditions at competitive performing arts schools like LaGuardia, Frank Sinatra and the Brooklyn High School of the Arts. 

KyJahmy took the specialized high school exam in October. His first choice is Brooklyn Tech. 

All students applying to high school must finalize their choices and turn in applications to school counselors by Dec. 1. Students typically hear back about admissions at the beginning of March.