How many have gone to culinary school?

I'm strongly considering going to culinary school at Sullivan, and was wondering if those that have been to Sullivan, or any other school could share some wisdom, or stories about their experiences.

Do you now or have you ever worked in a restaurant?

Sorry, that may have seemed abrupt. Welcome to the forum! You must care very much about food and cooking to be considering culinary school. I have a lot to say on the subject, and I did attend Sullivan and graduate Magna Cum Laude, and I was on the culinary competition team, and was a culinary team coach another year, but the question above is the same one I always put to anyone when they ask my advice about culinary school.

Yes, I am currently working at the Bristol in Jeffersonville. Before that I worked as a flight dispatcher for an airline in indianapolis, so yes it is a career change.

Chris,
Hola, firstly. Will you be thinking of going nights/weekends, or days? Full or part-time? My summation of my time at Sullivan is roundly based on the belief that you get out what you put in, and your ability to focus (consecutive classes help) plays a part in getting your money's worth. IF your life can work around it, I think you can learn a great deal any way you schedule it, if your eyes are open.

Well, I was a banker for 12 years, so that was my deal as well - "career change". It's good you are currently working in a restaurant - I never did until my final semester.

I don't want to trash my alma mater. I absolutely loved every minute, every second of culinary school. I got straight A's, and I'm sure I got as much out of the experience as anyone could, going to school on "plus Fridays" which wasn't even required, etc. It was so much fun, and so exciting!

What wasn't exciting was when I got out of school, I owed over $40,000 and my first restaurant job paid $8 an hour. That was five years ago, and to be honest - although I do make more now, it's not THAT much more. I still cannot afford to pay off my student loans (still owe over $35K, five years later!). And I'm sure tuition has gone up since I graduated. So unless you're independently wealthy, you'd have that to look forward to.

Also, I found later that, not only does having gone to culinary school not HELP you get jobs in this town - it can actually be a detriment. There are kitchens in this town that won't hire cooks that are coming out of culinary school (any culinary school, not just Sullivan). Cooks and chefs that have worked their way up are sometimes disdainful of culinary school graduates. And although I learned SO much in school, it's all stuff I could have learned better, faster, cheaper and more thoroughly by working my ass off in a restaurant.

The only exception being, if you plan to major in pastry - the pastry program is aces and probably worth the EXTRA tuition. IF you can afford it. I regret every day (now that I'm a pastry chef! How'd that happen?) that I didn't specialize in pastry in school, because there are things in pastry that are super-technical that I'm still groping around in the dark about. But as for wanting to be a chef and own your own restaurant - have you noticed the economy lately?

Again, I loved school. SO much. But when I walked into my first restaurant kitchen, both they and I were horrified to learn that I had literally never been taught how to break down a chicken. I didn't "miss" that class either. It's just that, with so many students....you might not get that recipe assigned to you, and you might never get taught something really basic. Sure, I could make grapefruit and tarragon sorbet, or make a really cool sausage (if the place you're working has sausage-making equipment, maybe, maybe not), but I wasn't sure about the rice-to-water ratio, or how much food to make for 30 people at a buffet.

Have I said too much?

Chris,
Hola, firstly. Will you be thinking of going nights/weekends, or days? Full or part-time? My summation of my time at Sullivan is roundly based on the belief that you get out what you put in, and your ability to focus (consecutive classes help) plays a part in getting your money's worth. IF your life can work around it, I think you can learn a great deal any way you schedule it, if your eyes are open.

I'm planning on going to school during the day and working at night and on the weekends. I guess some of my major concerns are the economy, (will I find a job when i get out) and the cost. I had a meeting with my admissions officer the other day to talk about the cost, and loans to cover it, and i must say i was blown away. I think i might be experiencing a case of sticker shock.

Chris, listen to her. She has said exactly, EXACTLY, enough.

Chris, be very, very careful. They will literally pay for EVERYTHING for you up front. Not just tuition, but uniform, books, lab fees, everything. It's very seductive. I never spent one thin dime until after graduation.

Keep your eye on that bottom line, though.

Have I said too much?

No not at all, I really appreciate your candor. It sounds like some of my concerns are right on. My wife and I were talking it over tonight and I told her my biggest fear would be to get out of school with 40 g's in loans and have to work a 9 dollar per hour job.

Also, please know that I'm aware this is not what you wanted to hear. The facilities - so shiny! The chef coats - so white, so embroidered!

Okay, one plus is, if you go to school there, you might get hired back to be an instructor. And they make BANK compared to restaurant cooks.

On the other hand, I was disappointed to learn that some of my instructors had literally never worked a day in any restaurant, anywhere. By no means is this the majority of them - most of them have long and storied careers (that are a lot of fun to hear about), but I did have two instructors that had NEVER WORKED A DAY in a restaurant.

Chris, be very, very careful. They will literally pay for EVERYTHING for you up front. Not just tuition, but uniform, books, lab fees, everything. It's very seductive. I never spent one thin dime until after graduation.

Keep your eye on that bottom line, though.

So are you saying that its a bad idea to let them pay for everything up front? They quoted me a rate of 6.25% that seemed a little high so I'm think about going through my bank which quoted me 5% on a home equity loan

I'm planning on going to school during the day and working at night and on the weekends. I guess some of my major concerns are the economy, (will I find a job when i get out) and the cost. I had a meeting with my admissions officer the other day to talk about the cost, and loans to cover it, and i must say i was blown away. I think i might be experiencing a case of sticker shock.

Sounds like a good plan. You are lucky to experience the sticker shock in advance, they are usually better at "smoothing the way" at the beginning. That being said, what I DID know in advance, and was able to escape with, was that (sigh) it isn't about the money. If you can remain in that delusional state, rock out...

If you are looking to enhance your career and are unsure about the investment, stay in the kitchen, you will learn tons right where you are at (and earn your stripes a lot quicker). The degree does not a salary make. What you can earn at the big S, that WILL help you find a job, is tons and tons of contacts, and it is this that will get you going, before you get out. The people I met reinforce my love for food, and I mean THAT in every way possible.

Well Reagan, that's just it, I do work at the Bristol but.....as a host. They don't currently have any openings in the kitchen so I'm biding my time until something opens up. But I do look forward to being in an atmosphere were you can talk about port wine reduction without getting funny looks.

If you go, PLEASE, as a former banker I am BEGGING you, go with the home equity loan - dude, you can (so far, at least) totally deduct the interest off your taxes! (Disclaimer - there are a few tax benefits to borrowing by student loan, but I'm certain the benefits are more, dollar-wise, on the home equity side of the equation).

The only reason it's a bad idea to let them pay for everything up front is - well, it's just a fantasy-land that makes it seem like it's all free. Everything's free! I am gonna make so much money later when I open my own restaurant and everyone will flock to it because I'm the man/woman!

God, I sound like such a monster-shouter. Listen, go for it if you want to and if you can afford it and if your marriage can take the stress. Yes, Reagan's right, you can create/foster a great network of contacts for later. You could also create that network of contacts.....right here on this forum. I am not kidding.

As far as creating a network of contacts, I will say that Sullivan boasts a 90% or something like that "employment rate" for their graduates. And they have a program in place to help graduates find a job, even (long) after they have graduated. However...

There is a degree requirement that you take a class called "College Success Skills" - stuff like how to balance your checkbook, how you should go to class and never not go, how you should study.....stuff I thought was stupid since I was well into my thirties and I know to apply myself and balance a goddamned checkbook. So I asked one of my instructors to help me lobby the registrar's dept. so I could skip the class (that's another thing - you can test out of a lot of the academic classes, and save money that way. Be sure to ask, so you don't have to take Spanish or Algebra or Geography if you've had them before in college). So, whee! Success! They waived the requirement. I was worried that I didn't then have enough hours to still qualify for my Federal Student Loan for the semester, but they said - No problem!

....only for me to find out (two weeks after the drop-add deadline) that I was right - I no longer qualified for my federal money. I threw a fit and they said "hey, it's still no problem - since it's our fault, we'll just loan you the money ourselves" - so I ended up with a separate loan with a giant interest rate, and one time when I needed a job, I called to try and get into their job-finding-for-graduates-program, and they said they couldn't help me since I still owed them that money. Wouldn't take me into their program because I owed them money.

Catch-22, anyone?