Would the division really matter? I mean, I guess if a person is deciding on a division ok.. even in my noob status.. I would do that.. *BUT* if a person were to decide whatever divisoin the heat was in, just wasn't something they wanted to shoot.. I would think, if that heat was consistant, could very well be used as a benchmark for the noob to gauge progress as a percentage of the heat's scores..
You are correct I would say in general. But see my earlier comments in regards to optics and high capacity as my general thoughts. Open or CO are the places to start in my opinion if you want to progress the most quickly. Learn to move effectively, transition the gun, call your shots, then move on to whatever other fuck-off division you would like once you have figured those things out.
Lots of dryfire. Live fire focused on the fundamentals. Treat local matches as live fire practice for the shit you can't set up yourself.