Originally Posted by NewGuy01

1. ORD is probably your best bet. Some of the guys who wanted to fly a lot also left for BOI. If you go to a west coast base you will double or even triple the amount of time you sit on reserve. I've been here about a year and I can now finally hold a line at a West Coast base. Keep an eye on open time. You may not fly much on reserve unless you select you want to be called first. Look for LGA turns on open time. You can fly these on your days off.

2. I don't know much about either program.

3. The 175 was my (sigh) 4th type rating. I studied in advance and kinda got burned. For example the book tailwind limit of most jets is
10 knots. SkyWest 175s can do 15 but you wont learn that until you get to ground school. So even the limitations are different per the company op specs than what you will find on the that app.

In my opinion your best bet for training is to show up well rested an ready to study a lot. Make flashcards and study beyond just the computer based training. If you apply yourself in training you will be fine. No need to spend ANY money on ANYTHING going forward. You'll need it to sort out a place to live in ORD. Live near the blue line train and life will be pretty easy. Winters suck though.