Thanks for all the information, ya'll. I'll try out some of the ATC-listed approaches, and if that doesn't seem to be very realistic, I'll try to somehow fly a STAR (maybe I'll have to ditch ATC--oh, no!  ;D).

Anyway, what's with the FSX ATC? I'd assume that in the real world, ATC would direct you along SID's and STAR's, so if FSX is going to be realistic, their should be some option to fly those with the ATC. There aren't any mods for the ATC, are there?