Thank you all very very much for the input. Republic was and has been my first choice.
One more question for you all,,, Although not being a pilot for my current carrier, this year I was able to attend our MD11 type rating school (after much begging!). My company let me go through the course without obtaining the type. The question is: How would an applicant present this as a plus even though the cert was not obtained? Thanks again for the input.