You are a case in point. You are spending considerable effort to build a test a set before the course. If you lived here I could send you to a bloke who would have put a set of 10s in his van that morning for you and you’d come away from the course understanding your options without the commitment to owning that particular configuration.
And why shouldn’t I spend time before the course getting used to my kit? I’ll at least have trim mostly worked out. I think a student should at least be able to show up with a basic backplate and harness. You can pick the BP up used without spending too much money (unless you’re short like me and need the short plate which is a pretty penny but worth it). Harness and hardware aren’t going to break the bank, either.