Been through both processes, while both are political, I've found the AA to be a better experience.
The big difference is that for AA you have biases from coaches who are at tryouts and for AS you have the biases for club owners who aren't there.
AA doesn't inflate its rosters and everyone who is on the team is someone who the coach actually wants. This means everyone who makes the roster have a better chance of getting some playing time.
For AS, the folks coaching the team have no input-- its just the college coach evaluators who create the initial roster and then the club directors who bloat the roster.
If you see any AS roster with more than 22 girls, you know its because a club director added his/her own players. And then when it comes to playing time, guess which players will get little to no PT -- the girls who made it on their own or the ones added by the club directors who also decide who is coaching the team.
