This paper illuminates the direct and profound implications of urban marginalisation on educational decisions. Using survey and interview data from Mumbai, we trace the distinct profiles of families who select public, private, and aided schools. Our effort to look closely at the distinct lives of these families and our conceptual framing, drawing on capability approach and multidimensional nature of poverty, however, accentuates what these families share amidst their distinctions. We find that structural, multidimensional, and pervasive experiences of urban marginalisation as capability deprivation envelope and at times entirely overwhelm differences in these families. We argue that understanding the implications of urban marginalisation is crucial to frame the discourse on educational decision-making in urban poverty.