I applied for three years and did not get the call until shortly after the Vets in Blue event in 2012. I had a little shy of 4700 hrs when I interviewed and over 2000 TPIC. There is no validity in the claim that 5000 is a must nor that over 1500 TPIC is a disqualifier.
As it was explained to me the apps go into a computer database and are then pulled at random by a third party to be called for interview. This was explained to me by the head of the People department so there's no real reason to doubt that it was true at the time. There is some speculation that this has changed since however.
As far as getting the bus goes, I was 33 on the first day of class and was about the middle of the pack for seniority. I could have held the bus out of JFK or the 190 out of BOS. I wanted BOS and the E190 as I believe it will get me a line quicker. I have one next month which is about 6 months into my time here including training. 4 months online.
That said the E190 went senior and I was the most junior to get it out of 8, I think, available slots at the time. Not everyone is going to have the same goals or desires so there is no telling which way the bid will go in class.
The company is pretty good and for the first time in a long time I enjoy going to work. It is far from perfect however. If you come here do not judge it simply based upon previous experience, although that counts some, but also upon what your experiences would be like were you to go to another major. It is incumbent upon all of us to improve where we are for as long as we are there whether we intend to stay or not.