In a perfect simulated world, I would always choose to fly a STAR whose endpoint corresponds to the IAF of the Runway I land on. It feels neat and tidy
Sometimes I plug in a STAR only to find out at some point, because of wind shifts, or other factors, that it will put me in an awkward position...for instance on the opposite side of the airport.
My questions are these: How soon does an Airline pilot commit to a STAR and plug it into the FMS? Do they always have an alternate STAR proggrammed into FMS2? Does ATC assign the STAR enroute or is it something chosen by the pilot when he files the flight plan, or also enroute, based on his expected runway? Finally, how common is it for the plane to arrive at the terminus of a chosen STAR and then be vectored around to the opposite side of the airport for the actual approach?