@rkasbaum
The above is an indication of how pervasive mediocrity is in this industry. Possibly you were fortunate to have an instructor who taught you well for conducting skills neutrally buoyant and trimmed, learning about identifying passive as well as active panic and how to address such issues, etc..
Fortunately there are growing number of instructors who teach properly and train the next generation of dive pros.
Unfortunately it is often those who have been "teaching for decades" who continue to use inferior methods of overweighting and on the knees placement of students.
One of my worst open water courses involved another instructor assisting. I gave clear instructions that students were to be neutrally buoyant at all times. I split the class as a result but everytime I turned around, the students were on the bottom. So I'd signal them to hover. It was incredibly frustrating. After the class one of my students told me how the other instructor told them to stay put, not hover, and that he had "been teaching for decades."
In my area there is one shop in the Seattle area and one in the West Sound that teach neutrally buoyant and trimmed. The rest (vast majority) place their students on their knees.
That is why I'd start with square one. If you taught properly, you'd breeze through and I'd prorate the costs and give you a refund. But you'd have to prove that your DM training was correct. Otherwise, I'd have to fix bad habits. I hope this makes sense and is reasonable.
