Hey guys! Sorry for delay, been hit with some overtime at work. My panel was early april. My medical/physical was cake! They did a color blind test which you just read numbers with mixed colourful dots. Then a vision check. And for the physical side they have you step over fake tracks and third rail, climb up into a raised platform to simulate a train and move a sledge hammer as if your throwing a switch.
As far as candidate's I believe they take the highest scoring and pool them into the first/next class then the lower scores into the class after. I remember hearing your guaranteed a spot whether it's sooner or later if you passed.
For studying, learn 3 to 5 definitions a day and constantly review previous ones from days before. For me I would read recite then write. I learned signal faces/names first then learned indications.