Eric I think your going to learn that once you move into the bigger planes the rate switches get used a LOT.

I remember talking to Mike McConville and he was talking about how he is constantly flipping his rate switches from high to low and the airspeed is changing. Basically your going to be flying low rates all the time except when doing the maneuvers like tumbles and spins. when your at low airspeeds high rates are fine but as soon as the airspeed comes up you need to get off the high rates or you can snap the airplane and get yourself in a furball pretty quickly.

Some guys run a lot of expo but that is a double edged sword as the surfaces are very sluggish around center, exactly what you don't want when you need to make small, very quick corrections like when your executing a harrier into a hover.

In the end its all about feel and everyone is a bit different as to what suites them.