Cher,
"To become better with anything you chose to do there is pratice and there is knowledge."
Very true.
"I found my diving improve 110% after reading the advance diving course and applying all I read to my dives"
I, personally, do not use a text for my advanced course because I've yet to find an advanced text that covers material I didn't already cover in my OW course.
"don't wait on the reading material, it is a godsend with learning control,bouyancy,safey,navagation, ect."
All of this is covered in any good OW course. You will continue to fine tune your skills by practicing, but you should have all the knowledge in these areas when you complete your OW class. If you didn't, you were short changed by an incompetent instructor.
"a great deal of info you did not get in OW, and how to be a better diver if methods are applied."
This tells me your "Advanced" class wasn't an advanced class at all, but a suppliment to bring your skills to where they should have been before you began the class. An advanced class should be introducing you to new areas of diving. After completing an advanced course, you should be experienced in deeper diving (beyond the 60 OW limit), low viz (less than 5 ft), night, search and recovery (not an expert, but with basic skills) and compass navigation to suppliment the natural navigation you learned in OW.
The reason for getting in about 25 dives before beginning your advanced course is so all the skills you learned in OW are second nature and you'll be able to concentrate on the NEW things you are learning.
The poor courses you were the victim of are a major problem in this industry. You did not get what you paid for. You paid for two courses and probably have not yet been taught all that should have been covered in the first. This practice makes me angry. I believe it is cheating the consumer. My courses are not cheap, but you can bet you get full value for your money.
WWW