Bill wrote:

I got my instrument rating at an accelerated school in California.
Overall, I think my instruction went well, and I was very happy with
the results. I passed my checkride in a Piper Lance, and had no
troubles.

There was one part though that never quite made sense to me. My
instructor told me to use a Star or DP for an airport that wasn't the
airport I was flying to, and I genuinely had no idea how she was
selecting which one to use. At the time, I just fudged my way through
that, since my brain was approaching maximum capacity anyway.

Now I'm wanting to start filing and flying out of TKI in the DFW area,
and I have no idea how to determine which procedure I should file, nor
do I even see how the transition will occur from the procedure that is
routing to or from DFW over to a landing at TKI or takeoff from TKI.

Strange that I have this one gap in my training, but it's getting in
my way now. Can any of you clear this up or recommend a good book or
video that makes this process clear? And I don't just want to
understand the process here at TKI I need to know how to apply this
anywhere.

Thanks!
Bill
www.adventurepilot.com

I fly out of TKI and there's nothing special to flying the DPs or STARs there.
The trick is to find the DPs that are not for jets and that are heading in the
direction that you want.

The DPs are airport specific. The STAR is used just to get you into the
"Terminal Area" which encompasses many airports. Again, pick the one that is
for props and coming generally from the direction you'll be coming from.

As someone else pointed out, DPs and STARs are like a box of chocolates.