I graduated from ASU CTI, and I think it's a pretty good program but certainly not the best fit for letting them skip the academy. The good is that all the ATC classes are taught by retired controllers. Tower is taught by a guy who retired from BUR I think? He got there after I graduated but I was taught by a retired PHX controller. Tracon is taught by a retired P50 controller and enroute is taught by a retired ZLA controller.
The bad is while ASU does have a TSS (they got PHX tower's old TSS when they got a new one) the problem is they simulate PHX tower, not academy airspace or any similar type of airspace. I didnt do any pattern traffic in the tower class. They do teach that stuff in the tower lecture and you learn all the terminal parts of the .65 but you dont actually do it in the sim. I didnt feel like I had much of a leg up at OKC compared to the no experience classmates.
Now the tracon class is actually really good and pretty similar to RTF but again, they simulate P50 not academy. But you still learn how to run a final, vector, run approaches to a satellite (only 1 though). They even have a fairly accurate STARS sim. I did feel like I had a major leg up at RTF compared to the no experience people because I already knew how to work that kind of environment.
The enroute class was pretty good but they simulated ZLA sector 18 and 36? I think. LAX departures and LA satellite arrivals but they dont teach any d side. I'm not at a center so I can't say how helpful it is for real enroute, but they also have what is likely a fairly accurate ERAM sim.
Of my graduating class all 6 of us got hired, passed OKC, and 5 have certified because we got terminal 1 is still training cause he got enroute.
The bad is while ASU does have a TSS (they got PHX tower's old TSS when they got a new one) the problem is they simulate PHX tower, not academy airspace or any similar type of airspace. I didnt do any pattern traffic in the tower class. They do teach that stuff in the tower lecture and you learn all the terminal parts of the .65 but you dont actually do it in the sim. I didnt feel like I had much of a leg up at OKC compared to the no experience classmates.
Now the tracon class is actually really good and pretty similar to RTF but again, they simulate P50 not academy. But you still learn how to run a final, vector, run approaches to a satellite (only 1 though). They even have a fairly accurate STARS sim. I did feel like I had a major leg up at RTF compared to the no experience people because I already knew how to work that kind of environment.
The enroute class was pretty good but they simulated ZLA sector 18 and 36? I think. LAX departures and LA satellite arrivals but they dont teach any d side. I'm not at a center so I can't say how helpful it is for real enroute, but they also have what is likely a fairly accurate ERAM sim.
Of my graduating class all 6 of us got hired, passed OKC, and 5 have certified because we got terminal 1 is still training cause he got enroute.