When you call the ATC saying that you are inbound, listen to it, it will say something like "fly heading *** for **". That means you have to fly ** miles heading ***, then you can request landing, it's not random. This also gives you the correct position for turning final into the correct runway.
When you are on final, the ATC will also remind you to check landing gear, etc.
I think this should answer your question.
EDIT: also the ATC detail is definitely NOT high, so there are no queues, no emergency landings... nothing like Falcon (which has a better ATC, but still, the AI is pretty stupid I must say :P )