[Dangel]

Attend as many tours as possible and get a feel for what is out there. No one school is going to be the right fit for everyone. It really depends on what you are looking for. Do you want the "classic" American college type of experience? If so you'll want to live on campus somewhere - not at home.
Attend the Philly open houses when you don't have time/patience to travel but can spare a few hours. See as much as you can and get a feel for the good, the bad, the ugly and the BS. After several tours I decided to go to The Restaurant School and I don't regret it. The Restaurant School has tours every Saturday morning - it is very casual and no-pressure. There are students as well as faculty on the tour and you can ask anything. I live in one of the dorms but you'd save a lot of money using the family home for room and board - better give yourself time to park tho its not easily accomplished in Philly. The CIA took me about 4.5 hours to drive to from the Philly area. You can get to the FCI in NYC via SEPTA & NJ Transit (or Amtrak $$) instead of driving - they'll probably let you attend a class or two for free and give you a great tour if you are serious. I planned to tour L'Academie de Cuisine near Baltimore and Baltimore Int'l but never got around to it. Johnson and Wales in Providence, Rhode Island would make a nice overnite trip if you can get someone to spring for tix Southwest airlines has low fares to Providence, RI daily. Have fun with it and base your decision on what makes sense and feels best for you.
One word of advice would be to write up a general list of questions with room for your notes and carry a fresh copy with you to each tour so that you can do a good job at comparing schools later without relying on your memory (which never fails to fail). It is surprising how few questions people ask on tours.

Oh and as far as the 6 months of experience at CIA - they have a broad range of what is acceptable. Don't exclude CIA b/c you don't think that you can't accomplish that requirement. Contact admissions and ask some questions - it is probably less difficult than you think.