# Does it count?



## vzank (Oct 6, 2002)

I got my BA in Food and Nutrition with the intention to go into counseling or in the clinical setting. However, the only thing I figured out was what I did not want to do in the aspect of food. Which is to consult. 
I am now in culinary school and am finding that some of the classes offered are same as my BA in food and nutrition. 
Some of my BA classes include

Sanitation
Foodservice
Food Science
Intro to cooking
Food and Food Culture aka international cuisine 
Nutrition

To get to the question. Would you think that my BA is equivilent in some way, to a Culinary Certificate?


----------



## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Contact the administration of the institute that you presently attend and inquire if you can receive credit for those courses already taken. You shouldn't need to "double up" on them.


----------



## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Vzank,

Why did you choose to spend time and money on a certificate after you already have a Bachelor's? I guess something's escaping me here, but I've never figured out why people do that rather than spend the same amount of time and money and get a Master's.

Yeah, like kokopuffs says, that BA means you have those credits already. Don't take them again.

Kuan


----------



## vzank (Oct 6, 2002)

Well here is my reasoning......

I chose a food related career that was far different than my peers in college. I went into the foodservice (chef) industry while everyone else was pursuing clinical jobs. 
I was advised by some dietitians that you do not get a masters in food and nutrition because the field and the views of the field is always changing. EX. One day the say wine is good for you the next week it bad.(A masters in this degree is only profitable in teaching). Instead of getting a Masters in Food and Nutrition, I was told to continue education in other food related fields. 
So, here is where it gets tricky. I am in my 10th week of culinary school. I am slowly figuring out that, what my enrollment advisors at the school and what really happens are two totally different things. And at the same time, I am finding out that a lot of my classes overlapped the materials covered in my college classes without all the hands on experience. 
Maybe I'll reword my question? If I'm going in for a job that requires culinary degree, can I use my BA in Food and Nutrition as an equivelent?


----------



## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Ah nope, it's not really equivalent. But you can show that you have a lot of continuing education credits in the form of culinary school. Food and Nutrition is a great degree, and don't let them tell you that a Master's in Foods and Nutrition is useless because the field is always changing. Fields are always changing anyway, besides, you have at least some leeway in choosing your field of research.

A combination of cooking school, restaurant/hotel experience, and a food science/nutrition degree is very useful these days. I know at least one former executive chef who went back to school to get a food science degree and he does quite well for himeself. 

Kuan


----------



## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

With all due respect a degree in F&N does not qualify one for making chocolate mousse. That's technique, pure and applied.


----------

