Way back when my ds was going into kindergarten, he was #73 on the wait list for a school we really really loved. He ended up at a different school and I didn't think much about it ever again, but I left him on the waiting list. Not too long after school started we were at some kind of city-wide kid activity and I ran into a friend from his preschool who said her son was going to that school. I related how bummed I was that my ds was way down at #73 on the wait list... only to find out... her son had been #71! And got in by the time school started. Our ds did get accepted at the school in the middle of the year when another child transferred out... but we declined because we were happy where he was at the time. Later on, we weren't so happy, so we re-entered him into the lottery and he was wait-listed. So we found a different school for him (again). And, sure enough, once again, he bubbled up to the top of the wait list and we had an offer to go there (and had again changed our minds because we were happy with our "second choice".
It may be more sane in your area, but we found out that in our city folks enter multiple lotteries and say yes to *any* program their child gets into in the spring, then release the spots in the late summer when they finally decide where to send their child. It's nuts, but it also means that a #41 may very well turn into a spot in the school.
Hang in there,
polarbear
