How to avoid bankruptcy

Filing for bankruptcy is an extreme move, not a quick fix. It's a long, painful process with a huge stigma, and you're unlikely to be able to get any kind of credit for ten years afterwards. Yet bankruptcies are on the rise. Out of ignorance or stupidity, more and more people seem to be using bankruptcy as a first option, instead of a last resort. Before you do it, make sure you've considered every alternative.

Have You Reorganised Your Debt?

If you haven't tried debt consolidation or negotiation, you really should. Yes, you'll have to pay back your debts eventually, but surely that's better than bankruptcy, isn't it?

Sell Everything You Can.

It's better to sell everything you own than it is to go into bankruptcy. Move to a smaller house. Sell your cars and take the bus. Take a good, hard look at your life, and realise that there are very few true 'basics': you can do without almost everything. Your house is probably full of quite valuable things that you never use, so bite the bullet and get rid of them. In short, subtract your debt payments from your income, and live like someone who earns that much.

You are going to lose almost everything you own if you declare bankruptcy, so you might as well try to sell it yourself at a better price and avoid the bankruptcy issue altogether.

Work More.

If you can get extra hours, do it. Being bankrupt is such an indignity that you should at least try going to your boss and asking for a pay rise or promotion. After all, the worst they can do is say no. They're going to find out about it anyway if you declare bankruptcy, and they might wonder why you didn't come and ask for their help. Also, if you're married and only one of you works, try to get the other a job - you never know, it might even be fun!

Use the Power of Threats.

One of the best things to do when you're considering bankruptcy is to write a letter to absolutely everyone you owe money to, letting them know. Make it a very clear threat: “if I cannot find a way of paying my debts then I will be forced to file for bankruptcy”. Most creditors would rather let you pay back a tiny fraction of what you owe than have to try to get money out of a bankrupt.

Know Your Local Laws.

Bankruptcy laws vary enormously depending on where you are. There are some places where you'll be forced to give up everything you own to pay your creditors, some places where you at least get to keep your house, and some where you can declare yourself bankrupt and not even notice! Try to get a lawyer - you might think that you can't afford one, but many will work 'pro bono' (for free) for people who really need a lawyer but can't pay.

Kitchen islands anchor all that s good in a kitchen

The kitchen has traditionally had three main design elements, the cabinets, work space and the appliances. The cabinets are used for storage, counters are used as preparation areas and the appliances for food preparation or various other handling like refrigeration, cooking, cutting, etc. Up until after World War II, in the United States all three were provided by stand alone pieces of furniture. In big English kitchens large work tables were magnets for families as well as useful counter space.

After World War II, when there was a boom of cookie cutter home construction in the U. S., kitchens acquired built in cabinets and counters. The kitchen became more utilitarian and was usually reserved for the woman of the home and used exclusively for cooking, while other parts of the home were designated for the actual eating and all other activities.

Modern kitchens have reverted to the older model of a more social, open and customized kitchen. Everyone ends up in the kitchen. It again seems to be the place to congregate – more often there is more than one cook and families use the space for hanging out.

One new design element that has crept into the kitchen as it (re)evolved is the kitchen island. The island seems to be bringing back the idea of the reliable work table, only now it is oh so adaptable.

If you’re building a new kitchen or remodeling an older kitchen and considering building a kitchen island, take a moment to figure out if that is indeed what your kitchen needs. Vastly useful and attractive, in can nonetheless be inappropriate for certain kitchens.

Your kitchen needs to be big enough for an island, usually at least 13 feet wide. The size of the actual island will also depend on the overall available space. You need to make sure that there is enough room to walk between the island and cabinetry as well as open all doors (cabinets, dishwasher, compost bin, etc.). Also, if you are planning to have barstools or chairs at the island, make sure there is enough room with them there.

Islands work best with L, U and G shaped kitchens. These shapes make for relatively enclosed kitchens and the island can help to encourage more interaction in the space without making the flow awkward.

Next, think about what you will use the island for. The island is accessible from all sides and depending on size can have many applications. For example, kids can use it as a table to do homework on while dinner is being cooked. Or, the stove top can be on the island and helpers can use it to chop and stir. If there are multiple cooks, a free standing structure like the island is convenient and will give you more space to move around and cook without getting into each others’ way. Perhaps you will use it to set up buffets that people can access while you continue to cook using the other counter space. A properly set up island can also function as an informal dining or breakfast area that is more akin to an actual table and more social than an alienating, single line countertop seating arrangement.

Depending on your needs, you can choose to put a sink or a stovetop on the island. Or you can leave it as pure counter space. It can be multi-level and custom shaped or rectangular and level. Further, you can use the block as extra storage by adding drawers and doors.

The island adds a lot of functional advantages to the kitchen, but it can also help to structure the use of the space. It works as an area where people congregate, but it also works as a border, keeping them separate from the cooks or those cleaning. By bringing people into the kitchen but keeping them separated, the kitchen island encourages a social atmosphere without letting extra people get in the way of the activity. Or if they’re helping, it gives them a separate space to work.

Finally, the island becomes a focal point in the kitchen not only functionally but also aesthetically. It is, in many ways, a large piece of immovable furniture. By placing it in the middle of the room, you are putting it in the spotlight. You can make it stand out more by using different countertop materials from the rest of the kitchen or try to blend it in by making everything match perfectly. There are many decorative elements that can be applied to the kitchen island, ranging from colors and intricate, decorative mouldings to island shapes and arrangements.

The kitchen island is a great addition if your kitchen can accommodate it. Check if you need one (or do you already have enough storage and counter space? And a table for your kids to hang out at?) and can fit it. Designing it is the fun part.

Everybody loves raymond season 2 dvd review

Premiering in Fall 1996, Everybody Loves Raymond struck an instant chord with TV audiences, becoming a beloved fan favorite that would last for nine successful seasons. Modeled after other successful TV series that cast stand-up comics in starring roles - Seinfeld, The Drew Carey Show, and Home Improvement - all come to mind, Everybody Loves Raymond relied on the talents of comic Ray Romano, but also drew upon a vast well of hilarity present in his fellow cast members…

The Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 2) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere in which Ray appears on a television sports talk show only to turn in a less than flattering appearance. When his family reveals the truth about his awkwardness, Ray is determined to perform better on TV, but his second stint is worse than his first… Other notable episodes from Season 2 include "Brother" in which Ray attempts to bond with Robert on the anniversary of his divorce, and "The Children's Book" in which Debra's noble attempt to write a children's book is turned into a one-on-one writing competition by Ray… Season 2 also features guest appearances by sports figures Roy Firestone, James Worthy, and Pat O'Brien…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 23 (Ray's on TV) Air Date: 09-22-1997

Episode 24 (Father Knows Least) Air Date: 09-29-1997

Episode 25 (Brother) Air Date: 10-06-1997

Episode 26 (Mozart) Air Date: 10-13-1997

Episode 27 (Golf) Air Date: 10-20-1997

Episode 28 (Anniversary) Air Date: 10-27-1997

Episode 29 (Working Late Again) Air Date: 11-03-1997

Episode 30 (The Children's Book) Air Date: 11-10-1997

Episode 31 (The Gift) Air Date: 11-17-1997

Episode 32 (High School) Air Date: 11-24-1997

Episode 33 (The Letter) Air Date: 12-08-1997

Episode 34 (All I Want for Christmas) Air Date: 12-15-1997

Episode 35 (Civil War) Air Date: 01-05-1998

Episode 36 (Mia Famiglia) Air Date: 01-12-1998

Episode 37 (Marie's Meatballs) Air Date: 01-19-1998

Episode 38 (The Checkbook) Air Date: 02-02-1998

Episode 39 (The Ride-Along) Air Date: 02-23-1998

Episode 40 (The Family Bed) Air Date: 03-02-1998

Episode 41 (Good Girls) Air Date: 03-09-1998

Episode 42 (T-Ball) Air Date: 04-06-1998

Episode 43 (Traffic School) Air Date: 04-20-1998

Episode 44 (Six Feet Under) Air Date: 04-27-1998

Episode 45 (The Garage Sale) Air Date: 05-04-1998

Episode 46 (The Wedding: Part 1) Air Date: 05-11-1998

Episode 47 (The Wedding: Part 2) Air Date: 05-18-1998

The 15 online businesses that you can start today for big profits

Here you can find 15 businesses that you can start fast. These businesses are profitable and they are in high demand. You could expect to receive good profits from most of them. The drawback is that there is too much competition for the majority of these businesses. Anyway, I will briefly describe them here and show you how you can also claim a piece of the profits from the online business world.

1. Sell information.

People are starving for information nowadays. Information could be anything that communicates a message. Art is a kind of information, images, files, software, games, books and e-books are information too.

You can create your own products or have other people do it for you. Either way, you will have to invest some time and money. If you want to have the products created for you, then you can outsource the projects to others even to people in other countries. This is a good technique that a lot of companies are using today.

Selling information is very profitable because the costs of reproducing the products you sell are next to nothing. Once you create the first product you can create as many copies as you need virtually at no cost. The time required to distribute the products to your clients is next to zero too. Finally the shipping costs often disappear on the Online business world. This is definitely a profitable business.

2. Become an affiliate.

If you don’t want to create anything you can sell what others create. Your only duty will be to advertise. Advertising is not easy, specially in such a competitive arena that is affiliate marketing. On the other hand, if you have the patience and discipline to learn how the super affiliates make it, then it can be really worthy the time spent on this venture.

Some top affiliates make tens of thousands per month from this business alone. There are just so many companies out there that want you to promote their products. This is one of the reasons why some new affiliates get lost. How can you know which companies are trustworthy and which ones are not?

Simple. Stay with the companies that pay you high commissions like 50% to 75% per sale and which conversion ratios are fairly high. For example, if a company pays you 65% commission to sell their product and for every 100 people that see the product 2 - 3 purchase it, then you may consider promoting the product.

Also expect to receive at least $20 per sale. I wouldn’t advertise a product if I can not get at least $20 for every sale. Do the math. Let’s say that you get paid $25 per sale. Your advertising costs are $5 per 100 people. If on average 2 out of 100 purchase the product, then you will get a huge return on investment.

Of course these are hypothetical figures. The real world is a little bit different. To find these products may not be that easy. But that’s the basic idea of how starting an affiliate business works.

3. Sell advertising space.

This is another good idea. The main thing you will need is a website with a lot of real good quality traffic. You can get truck loads of cheap traffic from autosurf programs and other sources. You can trick some advertisers but most of them won’t stay with you after their test spend.

That’s why it is better to do it right from the beginning. This business can be profitable but you definitely need reasonable quantities of quality traffic everyday. You can do this by giving away good quality content both on your website as well as other places.

For example you can write articles and publish them on article banks or e-zines. You can write a short e-book and offer it for free to your visitors on the home page. You can write programs reviews. You can set up a forum on your website and let you visitors interact with each other.

Anything that could provide a service or that can enhance the experience of your visitors can be a good source of traffic. The good thing about it is that most of those visitors will come back to your site from time to time and these techniques are free. If your website offers good content to your clients, you won’t need to pay to get visitors. They will come to you for free.

4. Trade.

Trading is very risky, that’s why it can be very profitable too. It is like they say: “no risk, no reward.” You should never trade or invest the money that you cannot afford to lose, but if you have some spare capital, this can be another source of income.

Most online brokers today will allow you to open an account with them with very little initial investment. You can open an account with as little as $300 to $1,000. Also there are many markets that you can trade in. You can trade currencies at Forex. You can trade stock shares at the different exchanges through the online brokers. You can trade commodities at the Futures market. You can trade options and many other derivatives.

The are many choices for those who want to trade for a living. Just a cautious note here. Trading is not as easy as many people want you to believe it is. It takes time to master any market including the financial markets. It is better to trade on paper for a while before you compromise your real capital. Some people become rich trading, but 90% of the traders fail.

5. High Yield Investment Programs.

There are many opportunities on the Internet to invest in programs which promise high rates of return in a short period of time. Most of them claim to be private investor clubs and they say that they get most of their profits from financial trading and investing.

Some of these companies seem legitimate but many are pure scams. Discretion is recommended to anyone who chooses to invest on these programs. Some offers are so unbelievable that they are simply that: unbelievable. Remember that “if something sounds too good to be true it probably is.”

When you visit the forums you can read how many people lose money on these programs while others claim that they paid for their vacations or something else with the money they got from one of these programs.

Many high yield investment programs are short lived. They disappear quickly ripping off many investors. Others tend to be more stable. Typically I have seen that those companies which offer more reasonable returns like 1% - 2% profits daily tend to be more reliable and last longer.

Anyway, the reward on this investment can be big, so the risk is also big. Discretion is recommended. Avoid anything that sounds like a game, pyramid or gambling.

6. Online Auctions.

Online auctions can be a good source of revenues. You can sell virtually anything on these auctions. Who doesn’t know about e-Bay? Almost everyone on the civilized world knows about it. E-Bay is not the only one though. Stormpay is a good player too and there are many others.

The idea is to get good quality products at the lowest possible prices. You can achieve this by getting to know the best wholesalers for the products you are trying to sell.

If you can buy bellow wholesale price and then sell the items individually you may realize a nice monthly profit by doing that. Some people’s main source of income are online auctions and they make hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Another way to make money with online auctions is to be a dropshipper, which I explain bellow.

7. Be a dropshipper.

When you are a dropshipper you don’t need to buy the products that you are selling. This eliminates some of your risks. You just make the presentation for the products whether on online auctions websites or your own websites and wait for somebody to purchase the products.

Once they send you the payment you transfer the order to the distributor who package and send the product to the buyer. Then you get paid a portion of the sale price. Some individuals prefer this because they don’t have to deal with the merchandise nor the clients and still they get handsome profits from this business.

8. Multi-Level Marketing.

When you join a multi-level marketing company you can sell other people products like with affiliate marketing and recruit others to do the same. You then get paid for every sale that your sales team generate.

You can do all of this over the Internet without having to meet people personally. The beauty of this business is the residual income that it can generate for you. If you train your sales people well and they do the same with their sales team your profits multiply over time.

This may sound like a pyramid but it is not. Genuine multi-level companies won’t charge you to join their program. They are interested in your advertising efforts not in your money. Pyramids charge you to join, usually a large amount and the only way for you to make more money is to pull more people into the scheme.

With multi-level marketing you can make money even if you do not invest anything on the company. You make money by selling their products as well as training other people to sell the products. The people that you train do not have to pay anything to join the company either. They are just sales people not investors.

9. Start a consultancy business.

If you have knowledge and expertise about a particular topic, you can start a consultancy business online and help others. You can offer your knowledge and advice for a fee.

You can do this directly from your own website or your website can be used as an advertising tool. Then you refer your visitors to other media you can use to run your consultancy business like your telephone or any meetings that you organize and they can attend.

10. Exchange e-currencies.

There are different e-currencies on the Internet today. Sometimes somebody needs to exchange one kind of e-currency for another. For example, they may have e-gold and they may need e-bullion.

So, when they want to exchange money they go to online money exchangers and exchange the money. The transactions occur mostly through the exchangers websites, sometimes manually and sometimes automatic.

This is a lucrative business. If you become an exchanger you get paid a small fee for the transaction. It could be for example 3% of the exchange amount. So, if someone has $1,000 in e-gold and they want e-bullion, then you charge three percent of the e-gold you are receiving ($30) plus the amount that e-gold charges you to receive the funds. That’s your profit $30. Then you send them the e-bullion.

How it is usually done is that once they send you the e-gold you subtract the fee from the e-bullion that you send them. So, they receive less in e-bullion than what they send you in e-gold.

This may not look as much money to you. But if you have several hundreds of transactions per day, you can make serious money this way. The drawback is that you need funds to do the exchanges. You may also need to find out what are the rules and regulations about this business in your local jurisdiction. But I certainly believe that this can be another good source of revenues on the Internet.

11. Autosurf for profits.

Autosurf programs has spread all over the Internet lately. The idea is as follows. You pay a company some money to receive website visitors. The company send you visitors and give you the opportunity to surf other members websites as well. If you surf other members websites you can get paid a percentage of the amount you paid on a predetermined time frame, let’s say weekly.

For example, you pay the company $100. The company promises to pay you back 15% weekly if you surf 15 websites per day. Then you click on a link every day and the websites rotate on your browser for a set amount of time (e. g.: 15 seconds). Then you close your browser and go do something else. At the end of that week you will have $115 on your account. The more you invest the more you make.

Many autosurf programs are scams. They do not provide a legitimate service to their users. Others are very effective. I specially like the ones that require the users to manually surf the websites. This way I make sure that a real visitor is visiting my pages and not a machine.

12. Start an affiliates network company.

If you start an affiliate network company you will be the intermediary between the merchants and the affiliates. You can also offer the merchants a payment processing system and allow them to use that tool to collect payments from their clients.

Your main focus on this business is not to create products nor to advertise products. You mostly act like a bank. The merchant join your company to sell products using your services and to get affiliates. The affiliates join to be able to sell the products on the program and receive commissions. The merchants offer the commissions they are willing to pay and take care of their customers.

You collect the payments from the merchants’ clients and send payments to the merchants and affiliates on a predetermined time frame. You charge a fee for your services.

That’s basically it. That’s the basic idea of how this business works. Of course, it is not that easy in real life. You will face competition, but the good thing about it is that you don’t have to create the products and you don’t have to advertise them either. You act like the bank and intermediary between affiliates and merchants.

14. Become an e-books wholesaler.

You can also purchase e-books in wholesale quantities and sell them all over the Internet. A package of e-books may cost you a few dollars and you can sell them over and over again.

Some people write e-books and offer master resale rights on those books. This means that not only you can resell the books but also let your clients sell them to their clients and on and on. The reason some authors do this is because they want to get maximum exposure for other products that they are selling or for the affiliate links that they included within those e-books.

Then you can get a package of those e-books and software with master resell rights and sell it to other people. This way you do not have to create your own products. You make a small investment once and profit many times.

15. Sell hosting and memberships.

This business can provide residual income for you. When you sell hosting you are basically selling a space on a server to webmasters. This provides a good source of revenues because many webmasters stay subscribed with the same hosting company for many months or years.

They pay a monthly fee and as long as they stay subscribed you keep receiving profits. The same happens with membership sites like dating websites. You don’t need many subscribers to be profitable. This business is different to others for the reasons that I will explain bellow.

If you write an e-book and try to sell it to others, you will sell that e-book once to one customer. That customer may never purchase anything else from you again. If you sell a membership to somebody that person will give you money on a recurring basis. You will sell the same product to the same person several times.

This provide a source of residual income in which your money grows exponentially over time. Let’s say that you have 1,000 subscribers and they pay you on average $5 each per month for your subscription. If you don’t sell further subscriptions you will still receive on average $5,000 per month.

On the other hand, if you market single sale products you need to keep selling the same amount of products every month to new clients if you want to keep receiving the same amount of monthly profits. That’s why residual income is so important. A web hosting or paid subscriptions business offer a great opportunity to receive monthly residual income.

EasyWebRiches © 2006

How to maximize your vacation experience while minimizing your car rental costs

When you plan to take a family car trip, there are several aspects you must consider. Whether you already live in Sydney, Australia or plan to visit, your first consideration will be your means of travel. This, of course, raises the question of whether you should use your car or simply rent one. If you are traveling to Sydney, you will most likely rent a car, as this would probably be the most feasible and practical option.

Sydney, Australia is one of the most traveled cities, offering a wealth of activities sure to please everyone in your family. That is where obtaining discount car rentals can help you to better plan your trip and optimize your time and expenses. Finding such a deal in Sydney is both easy and economical.

It pays to conduct thorough research before actually planning your trip. Since you will probably be spending a lot of money on the various activities you choose to take advantage of while you are there, saving money on your car rental will really serve you well. The Internet is a great place to start. Many companies offer web sites with information about how you can save money and where to look. You will also be able to find specific quotes and compare prices from different companies.

Another factor to consider is the location of the company you choose. You want to be sure you will be able to pick up and return the car without much hassle, so this is another important consideration. This may also depend on the sights you wish to see, but either way, there are many options available to you.

There are several discount car companies available in Sydney, so finding what you need should not be a problem. There is also an array of specialty vehicles that are designed to suit various activities. For example, if you plan to head for the outback, you would probably want a more rugged vehicle than if you just planned to stay in town. Through the online options, you will be able to learn about how your rate will be guaranteed, will be able to confirm your reservation both quickly and easily, and choose the type of vehicle you wish to rent while in Sydney.

If you are traveling a good distance to reach Sydney, you will probably want to ask about any policies concerning changes or cancellations should they be necessary. Be sure to explore all the options available to you, and take great care in choosing the right one.

Dog trick to cure a nuisance barker training buddy to speak on command

All breeds and sizes of dogs can be taught easily to speak, and the way to go about it is to call your dog, show him a treat and say “Speak.” He will not understand what you mean and will probably at first jump for it, and then sit down and eye it attentively; finally, he will get impatient and utter a sharp bark, which is what you have been waiting for, and the instant he does so reward him with the treat.

A dog which is slow in barking can be encouraged to do so by your imitating a bark, as the chances are he will reply to it, and if you reward him he will learn to bark as soon as he hears the word “speak.”

After a dog has been taught to bark once, you can teach him to bark any number of times, for when he has learned to expect a reward after barking once and you do not give it to him he is apt to bark again or until you give him a signal to stop.

Dogs are very observing and the signal to stop barking can be so slight that your friends will not detect it, such as a movement of the foot or hand, a dropping of the eyelids or a shifting of your gaze, and if you keep up a running fire of conversation and address your dog as if he were a human being his performance will be much more impressive and perplexing.

As an illustration, if you are exhibiting your dog to an audience and want him to speak, don’t simply say “speak,” but address him something like this: “Now, Buddy, all the ladies and gentlemen present are very anxious to hear you speak.” Put a slight emphasis on the word “speak” and your dog will catch it, but it will appear to the audience as if the dog understood the entire sentence and not only the one word “speak.” Of course, when training the young dog you should use only the word “speak” and that distinctly and free from other words, so as not to confuse him.

If your dog knows how to speck on command, you can try to teach “singing” – which is to teach him to howl on command. It is not expected that your dog will produce any melody but only repeat in a mechanical way a series of whines and barks.

Teach him to “sing” in the following manner. Try to imitate a whine yourself and try to get him to imitate the noise you make and to a certain degree, reach the pitch and style of noise make by you, be it a howl, whine or bark and with constant practice, a dog can and will learn to follow your tone quite accurately.

As your dog learn to follow your barking, say “sing” instinctively to associate this action. Praise and treat plentifully during training to encourage him further. Exercise him on a regular basis will help him to learn to sing in no time on your command.

“Speak” and “Sing” are useful lessons in curbing a nuisance barking dog. Let your dog understand that barking and whining is only allowed on command. Simply ignore your dog whenever he barks and whine for your attention. Vice versa, give him lots of praise or treats when he barks on command. If your dog understands this lesson, he will no longer be a nuisance barker and be a good quiet boy for a long time to go.

Magnets in the st. louis schools

Just like any other big city the St. Louis Schools in Missouri have some challenges in educating the city’s youngest population. Religious and private schools are an option for many. The public St. Louis Public Schools don’t have the best reputation. Charter schools and magnet schools are both alternatives to the traditional model of St. Louis Schools.

St. Louis Schools offer charters, independently run institutions, as one version of school choice. The problem with charter schools anywhere is that you never know what you’re going to get. Various local and national organizations run charter schools, and their success rates have been all over the board. I’d recommend that any parent looking at a charter in the St. Louis Schools only do so if it already has a good success rate, or you know families who are happy with it.

How are Magnet Schools Different from Charter Schools?

St. Louis Schools also has a wide spread magnet program. A magnet school is one with a specific focus like math and science, or language immersion. It’s common for a magnet school to be housed inside a larger school, but they can also be independent. Unlike a charter school, a St. Louis Schools magnet is fully part of the public education system and must abide by all the same rules. While this does mean some consistency, it also means some challenges.

The other difference is that students are accepted in a St. Louis Schools magnet by a lottery system. There are some groups that get preferences: continuity with another school, siblings who attend, and neighborhood kids are the top three. This can cause some problems as students clamor to get into the most popular St. Louis Schools magnet programs.

One of the biggest benefits to the St. Louis Schools magnet programs is that you tend to get a high level of parent involvement because parents have to take action to get their children into these programs. If a parent really wants his or her child in a Montessori or Arts magnet, they’re more likely to be involved once the child is enrolled.

Now this can be a sticky point with St. Louis Schools magnet programs. The reasons that magnets were developed were to encourage desegregation by luring better educated families into inner-city schools. So a lot of the St. Louis Schools magnets aren’t in the best locations. But many parents decide that the program offered is important enough to make the commitment. Usually neighborhood students have the options to attend the magnet in their area. But the magnet system has caused some controversy as far as who gets into what school.

Overall, I think the St. Louis Schools magnet system is a great piece of the educational picture. I would encourage parents to look at programs like the athletic magnet aimed at middle school students, the engineering program, and the international studies magnet. This is a good way to introduce a child to a specific skill set that will set him or her apart from peers in future years. And despite the struggles of the St. Louis Schools, the magnets are generally well run, and worth looking into.