if you go to republicpilots.org, someone listed the S5 class forecasts. Seems like they ran lots of 170 guys through in Dec, Jan, and the Feb class, but like said earlier in this forum, only like 5 or 6 in March & April.

If you want S5, I'd suggest trying to get your stuff in as fast as possible, and be relentless on getting in touch with them. If you can't get into that Feb class, the odds will go down significantly that you'll get S5 if those numbers are true. Like 50% chance down to 10% chance. I was thinking about trying to go to S5 around March/April, but I'm not too optimistic. Like you, I really want to be in ORD.

Anyone know if I got hired in March/April (and had a Chicago home address), would they let me wait for an S5 class?

From everything I've seen on 170 CA upgrade times, I'd probably be on the 145 for 3+ years before I could move up to the 170 in Chicago...if I have to commute for 3 years before getting ORD, I probably wouldn't do it anyways. I'm in it for ORD, not for the 170.