I have no idea how the training is at Republic, but I have not heard anything bad about it until now so I tend to give their instructors the benefit of the doubt. I knew the ASA side of XJT and it was very good. I've heard the same about the LXJT side.
Having said that, many seem to throw around this term "We aren't going to hold your hand", which seems to actually mean "we don't teach we only evaluate". There is a difference. Teaching actually takes effort on the part of the instructor to know well enough to teach. You hit the books more than the students. You make learning meaningful... you know... all that crap from the Instructor's Handbook. Here's a quote straight from the FAA Aviation Instructor's Handbook:
"Learning should be an enjoyable experience. By making each lesson a pleasurable experience for the student, the instructor can maintain a high level of student motivation. This does not mean the instructor makes things easy for the student or sacrifices standards of performance to please the student. The student experiences satisfaction from doing a good job or from successfully meeting the challenge of a difficult task."
Unfortunately, too many airline instructors equate "demanding" with "being an a$%". Yeah, I used to be one of those instructors in the military. It wasn't until I tried to teach someone in a combat environment and realized they were more scared of me than being shot down that I realized I was pretty screwed up in my method of instruction. Yelling, demeaning, belittling or trying to "trick" a student is not teaching.
Some of the best teachers I had in the airlines were very demanding and gave thorough debriefs. But they were also patient and knowledgable instructors. Sometimes they just kept their mouth shut and let us learn in the simulator- sometimes the best learning tool is making a mistake.