We applied during the open transfer season and I got the letter really early (like mid-May). DD is going to 3rd grade.
We were looking at 3 schools and applied through the system (SchoolMax). By the time I actually logged in, our top choice was no longer available for her grade-level, but they had spots in other grades. The school we got accepted for (our second choice) was actually not on the list of schools with available spaces, but was available for selection in the system so I chose it, hoping we would get lucky because of their mistake and we did!