"I know we all can't pick and choose, to be honest if I cant work in a tower. I would like to work somewhere very hectic and busy JFK, ORD, ATL, LAX bring it on! Not to sound cocky but I do like to challenge myself. And be able to have the honor of saying I worked some of the busiest airspace in the world...."
May I interject a smidgen of advice... worry less about getting to a high level facility so that you can have the honor of ... etc. and do a few things first:
1. Get hired! Jump through whatever hoops the FAA has at the time in order for you to get hired. There are many on this forum that would give their (fill in the blank) to be a controller. Your first goal is to get hired.
2. Get checked out in a lower level facility as a CPC (Certified Professional Controller) and get past your probation period, 1 year. At that point, you become a valuable entity to the FAA. At my facility, we get applications weekly from trainees that are washing out of higher level facilities and would rather work in a lower level facility than get fired! The washout rate at most higher level facilities is high, for good reasons.
3. Make sure that the facility that pushes the tin where you want to challenge yourself is where you want to spend the majority of your career. These facilities are hurting for people, so once and if you check out, you're there for a long time! Be sure you can afford to live and work there. You don't want to have two jobs to make a living. It's not all about humping tons of planes, it's also about quality of life, family and friends. I crank and dump planes 40 hours a week, but I have a real life outside of work. I am a controller, I serve my country in this manner, I am proud of my career choice, and humbly, I am very good at what I do. But I am just as proud and excited about my children and my family!
For all those looking to go down this path, the newly hired will be able to offer more current advice than us codgers. By the time we were done, out of every 10,000 applicants, 1 would make it as a controller. That ratio is much better now. The career path you have chosen is a worthy one, Obe. It's awesome how you get down on yourself when you end up with 4.5 miles, when all you needed was 3.