# Please ENLIGHTEN ME!!!



## dion (Jan 7, 2010)

I have been trying to make a decision and so far none has been able to answer a simple question with clarity!!! Out of the 20 people I have asked, 10 believe that LCB(the real one - France and Ottawa) is a waste of time and money and the rest think otherwise! If anyone has a specific opinion based on any experience regarding the LCB, please state it while specifying your opinion. For example : ''I didn't have the attention, the knowledge 50.000 dollars would buy me!! The classes were too big.... etc. etc."


Thanks in advance....:smiles:


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

Calm down, Dion. This is a forum which offers free advice, so be a little more polite in the way in which you ask for it.


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## gunnar (Apr 3, 2008)

the issue at hand is one of personal taste of a sorts.
are you looking to go to a well named school and walk a way with an A.S. in applied science (cooking) which is what you can get at LCB, according to the website, or are you looking to learn to cook really well and don't care about a degree as you have a couple in buisness anyway?

if wanting to learn to cook really good food or at least be able to tell if someone else is talented, just about any cook school will do that for you. will that allow you to work on the line and be called Chef right away? no. that comes with time and I would say at least a year as lead line cook will get you in the right mindset.

"a waste of time" is very subjective. For instance, sending me to a cook school that doesn't include management and buisness training would be a waste of time. all I would learn would be some new recipes and I learn those on my own all the time. I also would not be interested in a school that didn't offer me a degree instead of certification. I have a forklift certification that doesn't get me work already, right next to my cpr cert that hasn't saved anyones life either.

I have always had more respect for and gotten more respect from cooks who learned it the "hard" way. Mostly cause noobs out of culinary school think they are the only ones who know how to cook and don't listen to any cook but the Chef.

also from what I have seen you will learn alot of the basic stuff you need in a Junior College for about 1/3 the price of LCB or the CIA. 

best of luck


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Do the math.

Sa you can afford to pay off your student loan at the rate of 10% of your earnings, that is the equivalent of 200 hours per year, based on an average of 2,000 hours worked per year.

Multiply the 200 hours by your expected hourly pay, say $10-15/hour to start, that's $2,000-$3,000 per year ($166.67-$250/month). At zero percent interest, it will take 17-25 years to pay off your student loan of $50,000.

Is that a "good deal"?


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## jtobin625 (Dec 16, 2008)

Dion, 

How about you just visit the schools of your choice because the answers you are getting are useless so just believe everything that you are told and good luck to you.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Paris and OTTAWA? What makes 'Ottawa' a 'real' LCB?
I took a course at LCB, Paris. There are LCB schools all over the world, nowadays! 

I think you should pay for a school which suits you - forget the LCB name and just go for the one which suits your aspirations!


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## lcbstdnt (Aug 3, 2011)

Deleted - we do not allow personal attacks on non-members.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

> What the ? does this comment have anything to do with the quality of education at a culinary school? It does however show a lot about you! It shows a lack of professionalism and too much energy spent looking at what you perceive as shortcomings in other people. You might be better served to look in the mirror sometimes.


Also you, and you alone, are the one who is responsible for your research before attending and then the resultant choice of a culinary school. Sour grapes after the fact don't taste any better and they certainly don't belong here.


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## chefjw (Aug 11, 2011)

I have been in the idustry for 30+ years. It is not the school I went to or the credentials I hold that I have gotten me here. It's the determination & drive to acheive great things in the kitchen that has got me here. When I say great things; that covers a lot of area. Top Shelf quality  & presentation can be acheived with in yourself; by doing what you love to do and embellishing on what you learn as you go. The obtaining & maintaining of costs, knowing what to do to gain profit or avoid financial disaster; only the experienced & your own experiences can teach you this. When looking at programs to study......be sure that you are getting a good insite & instruction in this area.

Best Of Luck


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## baker boy100 (Jun 10, 2011)

I am not a LCB student, but I did visit the LCB Dallas campus. It was very nice and the had just got new equipment the pastry department. Personally, the school seemed very nice for the money you pay. (Meaning, it is not as huge as culinary colleges like the CIA or JWU, but it was a very nice campus.) I had a long chat with the campus directory guy (he was an alumni) and he was almost too brutally honest and very personal when he talked with me. He warned me that the culinary field is a very hard industry and that you will work your butt off. He also warned me about the high tuition costs and counseled me on how to get scholarships and loans to cover my costs, which is the norm at any school/college. Oh and he also recommend that I join the military to get them to help pay for my schooling! lol

All in all, I don't thing LCB is as sleazy as many people want you to believe. It is a brand name school with it's name to back it up. Just remember that they are a business and, at the end of the day, they have to be 'lenient' on the people they let in. That does mean that there will be some slackers, but that is across the board with culinary schools. You just have to be in charge of your education and MAKE SURE that you absorb all the information you can.

My BIGGEST advice for you when you consider any school is: 1) Physically visit the school, 2) Sit in on some classes, and 3) Talk face to face with alumni. Then you can draw a conclusion on the school.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

And may I add .When you visit these schools keep in mind that they are their to make a PROFIT  first and formost.

One will absorb and learn more in a week on the job then they will in the school in a month.  I have had grads who could not hack it but they had a degree.


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## delicious299 (Aug 14, 2011)

I think your comment should be deleted. Whatever the students opinion is about LCB Ottawa Culinary School, is helpful to others. I had previously thought about going there and dodged a major bullet (went to CIA instead). Cheftalk has helped me choose a wonderful culinary school. This is the way I and others do our "research" so I don't think its smart of you do discourage others, especially students who had first hand experience, from posting. And in fact I did work with quite a few students who went through that institution and weren't happy with the LCB OTTAWA school. Its really unfortunate but I'm sure whatever the comments were that people on this forum will make up their own decision. And your comment isn't helpful or inviting when reading this thread now that the other one has been deleted.

Don't let other comments get to you because you just end up looking bad yourself with your retort.

Cheers!

*Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.*


> What the ? does this comment have anything to do with the quality of education at a culinary school? It does however show a lot about you! It shows a lack of professionalism and too much energy spent looking at what you perceive as shortcomings in other people. You might be better served to look in the mirror sometimes.


Also you, and you alone, are the one who is responsible for your research before attending and then the resultant choice of a culinary school. Sour grapes after the fact don't taste any better and they certainly don't belong here.


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

delicious299 said:


> Sour grapes after the fact don't taste any better and they certainly don't belong here.


delicious, this is exactly the reason why the post cheflayne was referring to was deleted. If you had read that post, I could see why you're arguing in favor of it. From what you've written, it seems you didn't. One thing I've learned being a manager in a kitchen when faced with an incident I didn't witness is to get the complete story from all sides before forming an opinion.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. Mine are based on being licensed to teach in  culinary schools in the New York area, both public and private. True that was 20 years ago, but the bottom line of seeking profit is I would imagine still uppermost. If there were no profit, then they would have to close. Some students needed the school structure, others just had it in their hands and were better off outside in the trade learning from practical experience. In the schools I were  in  6 out of 31 attendees  were still in the business 5 years after graduation.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

Negative comments and reviews are a part of life when one chooses a career path in the hospitality industry. No chef, manager, or owner worth their salt desires  to be spared from hearing genuine less than glowing reviews. You can't address issues if you are not aware of them. However, input and opinions do not need to be crass to be effective, that was my issue with the post that was deleted.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

A matter of economics. As Pete above has already figured out and shown  the figures.

Anyone who would spend 50 big ones a year and is willing to take 10 to 15 years to pay it off to go into a business that pays $12.00 an hour to start is crazy. Maybe 50.000 spent in law school, engineering  or medical would be a better deal for the money.


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