If you had gone to the old school, you would have been allotted 3 hours a day for two weeks to complete the training. That's 30 hours. Most people showed up at class having already looked at the material, and got to study what they wanted for those 30 hours...

Think of it this way, that is about 5 fewer days you have to spend away from home in stuck in a hotel in MSP! The good news is that MTC isn't as draconian on the dress code. A few more months and you would have had to go to ATC.