# College Search..Please Help!!



## culinary2010 (Sep 2, 2008)

Hi, my name is Paul, and I am currently a jounior at Delcastle Technical High School. I am also enrolled in the Upward Bound program, its a program that helps teens get to college, and I have been trying to think of some colleges, and I have narrowed it down (sorta) to colleges pretty much on the East Cost, I know doesn't really cut the pile down too much, however I have thought of schools such as the Art institute of Philadelphia, The Culinary Institute of America, Le Cordon Bleu, or if I cant make it to any of them because of the chokeholdthe economies in I was also considering the great program at Del Tech. Although I would rather travel a little to see the sights beyond little ol' Delaware.

Any info that could help would be much apperecheated.* :chef:*


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## jtobin625 (Dec 16, 2008)

The LCB and AI institutions aren't bad programs when looking at the education, but they are simply overpriced in my opinion and I used to work for one of them. 

If you want to spend a lot of money on your education, I would recommend CIA (if you can get in). Also, if you haven't done it yet, start working in a kitchen while in high school. 

A technical college isn't a bad idea due to the cost. You aren't resigned to only staying in Delaware. The food industry allows you to travel all over the world if you have the drive to make it happen.


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## littlewolf1275 (Mar 29, 2009)

Okay so you said you wanted to go to a school in the east coast? Here are some of the schools.

There's Johnson and Wales, they have four campuses, all on the east coast i think, and you can switch between whichever one you want. 

There's the Art Institues of Philadelphia, which is also good, if you ever get the chance to visit there see if you can meet up with chef Jeff and talk to him, he goes around to schools to give demonstrations and is really nice. 

There's the Culinary Institute of America, but you have to have six months of foodservice work before entering, although they do accept you if you have less than perfect grades. 

There's Le Cordon Bleu, which I know absolutely nothing about, and there's always the option of taking a year or so off to go straight into the working world, which is not a bad idea either. 

There's also the Connecticut Culinary Institute which, if you have REALLY bad grades, is great because they don't ask for a transcript or SAT scores. 

I'm going to the Culinary Institute of America, if you decide to have that be your college of choice then I'll see you there. But I suggest you keep doing your research, you have a year left to go, make it worth it.


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## culinary2010 (Sep 2, 2008)

Ok, ill look in to each one a little more, thanks for all the information, it helped out alot.:chef:


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

OK, take a DEEP BREATHE! EXHALE!

Before commiting to spending the "big bucks" with a name school:

A. Get a job in a restaurant, not a "fast food place" but a "for real restaurant", why? So you can learn what it is like in the food service business.

B. Check our your local community colleges to see if they have a culinary program. You may be able to get a firm foundationb in culinary basics for FAR less than the "name schools".

C. Make sure you grasp the facts, that wherever you get your education, when you complete the course (graduate), you probably qualify as a "culinarian", which means you might be hired as a "prep cook" or kitchen helper at somewhere around $10/hour, more or less.

D. Make sure that you understand that in five (5) to ten (10) years, if you are really fortunate, you just might become a Chef de Partie or Sous Chef

E. Make sure that you understand that a student loan for $40,000 at 6% interest paid back over five (5) years is equivalent to $4.47 PER HOUR based on a forty (40) hour work week.

If that makes sense to you, go for it!


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## chef21 (Aug 16, 2007)

i think le cordon blu is like the best school for cooking but im not sure so dont listen to me...iv heard a lot of good things about it though...but the best thing to do is research...


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Pete is correct
.Get a job first before you put down a dime deposit , see if you like it, and if you do your getting paid at the same time. If you dont like it you can quit and lose nothing wheras if you quit the school you would lose all your deposits. All the schools teach about the same things ,its up to you to get all you can out of it.


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

For all of you considering culinary shool>
work in the trade for a year first, then if you like it enroll in shool!!!!!!


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## nicledoux (Apr 13, 2009)

I've applied to the New England Culinary Institute (NECI) in Vermont. I should be starting there in September. You might want to check it out if you like the idea of small classes with lots of hands on work in restaurants. It's broken down into 2 6-month internships at restaurants of your choice. The other 12 months have you doing class work or learning and working in restaurants owned and run by NECI. It's got a great setting in Vermont as well.


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