Hi 738 Driver
I’m not sure how valid my experience is as I attended the selection day back in October 2008, I did not do any training at OAA or CAE and I still got invited.
However when I got to the selection day there were 8 of us and I was the only non OAA candidate. Speaking to the OAA lads they had done the OAA MCC and JOC (about 40hrs) in a 737 sim and they told me that the instructors had them flying RYR selection sim profiles and used RYR standard calls, the instructors also briefed them on typical RYR interview questions. They were also told to report back to OAA the sim profile that they were given and the questions that they were asked in the interview.
So while it seems that people who do not go to OAA/ CAE do get assessed it is also true that OAA does have a lot of knowledge of the RYR selection procedure and will prepare their students well for the assessment day.
So if you are serious about getting into RYR and you can afford the OAA MCC then it could be a wise move to go there and plug the instructors for all the information that you can. You may not be one of their integrated students but you’re still a customer and they should provide you with all the advice that you ask for.
Good luck with the application