I haven't read any of the other comments yet but I'm also newly certified and will sort of compare our experiences. I'm guessing you had a PADI cert, based on the depth and information you've provided so far and mine is PADI.
Your quoted stuff is italicized, my response is in plain text.
I just completed my open water certification. I really question whether my skill level is sufficient to go into a dive situation. My training seemed rather inadequate. The following is my experience and self-evaluation of my skills. Skill testing was done in 18 foot of water.
I would say it's difficult to determine how well you control buoyancy at 18 feet, but all the other skills can easily be determined at that depth.
1. Air consumption was not discussed
I think this is a common thing in OW classes from what I can tell. I asked several times about air consumption during my class and during my dives (I did my dives on referral.) This is one of those areas I think just doesn't get covered well because there are so many people who get certified to do 1 or 2 dives a year and don't really need to know all the information that goes into gas consumption. I think it's easier for instructors to gloss over it and then get into it in later AOW courses or once the student has gotten beyond the "oh my God I'm breathing underwater" excitement and can actually control their breathing somewhat.
2. Air sharing (alternate air source) completed but not correctly done by my training buddy, he gave me the alternate regulator upside down, there was no mention by the instructor of this until I complained later that I was taking on some water through the regulator.
Personally I would see that as a good training opportunity. In the real world, things don't go right. Being given the reg upside down gave you the opportunity to learn what it feels like to blow bubbles the wrong way, and suck in some water in a "controlled" environment. You obviously cleared the reg and got things righted, so it's a good thing. It's good for the other students too, because they can then see that nothing dramatically bad will happen if such a thing happens to them underwater.
3. Buoyancy check and control attempted but could not stay on the submerged platform at 18 foot. Instructor added weight. my total weight was 26 pounds. I am sure that I was over weighted. I am 5'6 160 pounds was wearing a 7mm full suit with hood and gloves in fresh water. When I tried to discuss this the talk always came back to anxiety and being comfortable. I have no fear of water, or uncomfortable other than feeling that I was not performing well.
I would say you were probably a little over-weighted. I am 6'1" and between 165 and 170, though, and I had 16 pounds in my 2nd through 4th dives. I was wearing a lot of neoprene (more than 7 on my core and various levels of coverage everywhere) and felt a little over-weighted but I think that's pretty common for the cert dives. It takes time to really "dial in" your weight requirements. Lack of valid discussion is not helpful but, in most cases, I think it is a comfort/anxiety thing with us newbies so instructors fall back on that as an easy answer more than they probably should.
4. Controlled ascent and descent is hard to evaluate in 18 feet of water.
I agree with that. I was trying to determine my rate of ascent but couldn't figure it out on the computer I rented for my OW dives. The DM that did my ascents with me kept pulling me down though so I know I was going too fast. That's something I want to practice on my first few dives.
5.Emergence buoyant ascent completed but done poorly, did not exhale properly.
Recognizing this will make you a better diver. You can practice this by "ascending" while swimming underwater in a pool. It will give you the "muscle memory" without the worry of actually doing an buoyant ascent.
6.Mask clearing partial and full was well done
7.Regulator clearing blowing and purging well done
8.Regulator retrieval sweeping and reaching well done
This is also good to recognize. My OW dives didn't really do a great job with any of these skills, but I had to do them all constantly. My reg was kicked out of my mouth twice during our dives by my instructor or buddy because I was swimming too close due to low viz. Just remember to keep practicing these skills.
9.Navigation was minimum one point at a distance of about 125 yards with a buddy that could not keep on line
Navigation is one of those things that a lot of people find really difficult for some reason. It sounds like you felt more competent than your buddy. Remember to practice this one a lot and look for visual clues other than just a compass too. I found during my dives I didn't see anything when I was navigating but I consistently hit my mark and was the only person in my class who did. That said, everyone else in the class saw fish, and bicycles and all kinds of other stuff on our "navigation" dive that I completely missed. It's supposed to be fun, remember. Sometimes getting "off line" is a good thing, as long as you know how to recover from it.
10.My last dive which was a navigation and fun dive to end the class was interrupted by constantly going to the surface to look for my dive buddy in the limited visibility of 6-10 feet. He could not stay close.
This is going to sound rude, but it takes two people to be a good buddy team. If he couldn't stay close to you, that means you couldn't stay close to him either. Especially as newbies, we have a lot to think about and try to remember. I found I was better at "looking around for my buddy" than my buddy was, but she was also attached to the instructor (holding hands with) and I was not. As such, I think she felt like her buddy was there while I had a bit more of a "must keep track of them" attitude because I wasn't in physical contact with either of them for most dives. Some people are more comfortable and will naturally be a little better at focusing on more than the absolute necessities, while others of us will be less comfortable and more likely to forget to look around at our buddies, or our gauges, or whatever.
11.Dive tables done well
12. Classwork done well
Good and good.
13. Divelogging for day 1 done on day 2.
We did this too, and I must say I didn't much like it. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to fill it out (with or without details etc.) so I just filled in the statistics without my instructor (depth, temp, air at start, air at finish) and then wrote a couple blurbs on the second day when I finished it with the instructor.
14. Regulators in the pool seemed like quality equipment but the regulators for the open water portion I was given looked like less quality (plastic). To be honest, this is a perception only, I do not have the experience to properly judge this.
I'm going to say your second sentence is the realistic one here. Regs for the pool may have been kept in more controlled environments though so it's possible they were in better shape than rentals used in real world dives.
Again, I have no anxiety problem with being underwater or using the equipment. I know I need to improve my skills. Particularly, getting my weight requirements down. If I went to BVI to dive tomorrow I would have no idea how much weight to take.
Hopefully this thread will develop and I will learn something from the more experienced member of the board.
Thanks
Sounds like you were less thrilled with the course as a whole but you've gotten a good start and a realistic self assessment. I think, honestly, you're better off than a lot of newbies who think they're ready for the world. Keep practicing and I'm sure you'll find yourself fixing a lot of the issues you feel like you have now.