Le Cordon Bleu

[frycook]

Hey just wondering if any of you have gone to the Le Cordon bleu school in Pittsburgh. (Penn culinary Institute)? If you could give me any input on what you thought of it. If it is hard to get into, because i know you have do a interview. Basically any information you could give me about the school that the website wouldnt give me, I would really appreciate. Thanks!

[RAS1187]

I have just completed my culinary training at the Le Cordon Bleu school in Chicago (The Cooking & Hospitality Institute of Chicago, aka CHIC)

The thing about LCB is that they will forcefeed you the LCB bs until you are sick of it. There are LCB everywhere on campus, the admissions representative will keep referring back to the prestige of LCB and the fact they have over 100 yrs of culinary education experience. This is just a sales pitch. My friend went to a different culinary school (Washburne) which is also highly regarded as a great culinary school and I have seen no noticeable difference in the quality of the education.

Don't go to the LCB school just because it is a LCB school. Do your research of other schools in the area, if you decide that the LCB school is the best option for you then go for it.

I am unfamiliar with the Pittsburg LCB School, though I would imagine that all LCB schools have some sort of resemblance from one to another.

[frycook]

Hey thanks. I have another question for you. was the school alot of hands on work?? because that is what i am looking for.

[RAS1187]

I am content with my education... after re-reading my previous message it might come off as a bash to LCB. It really isn't.

Regarding hands on, yes CHIC offered me alot of hands on, but I feel that it was not enough. Particularly in the meats fabrication department. 3 weeks is not enough time to cover fabrication of poultry, veal, lamb, beef, and seafood. I never touched fawl or foie gras, and I would be extremely unsure of myself if I were to ever prepare anything involving either of them. While I would consider my fish fabrication as so/so... I would have appreciated more time/detail for this particular class. The former EC of CHIC is now the EC of a competing culinary school, and his culinary program is based off an older version of CHIC's curriculum.

I feel the way our LCB program was based more on speed than efficiency. The program was a little over a year long, and alot of schools with 2 yr programs actually split some broad classes into smaller more focused ones.

[chiqui]

i envy those who can afford to study in a culinary school i do have a great passion in cooking i use to cook for my friends and families but i want to be a professional arrrrgh anyone in the philippines who can give me ideas where to find a cheaper culinary school and will help me to set a good career in cooking

[adamm]

what are you looking for out of a school, to learn the basics, or get a degree. also what kind of experence do you have.

[RAS1187]

Originally Posted by chiqui

i envy those who can afford to study in a culinary school i do have a great passion in cooking i use to cook for my friends and families but i want to be a professional arrrrgh anyone in the philippines who can give me ideas where to find a cheaper culinary school and will help me to set a good career in cooking

My biggest lesson to be learned from working on the job is "make it happen". When pressed against seemingly impossible tasks under very stringent time constraints, I always go at it with the "make it happen" attitude. Look around the area and outside the country, and figure out what it is exactly you need to do to reach this goal. Working (even part-time) in a restaurant (even a small one) is a great opportunity to get hands-on training until you figure out how to get into school.

Sorry I don't have any tips for actually getting in school in the Phillipines, but hopefully this does something for you.

[jtc1217]

I wish I'd discovered this forum before I went to see culinary schools today. I live in Chicago and visited CHIC and Kendall. I reallly don't know what to think about either program and it's very hard to find an unbiased opinion.

I actually enrolled in CHIC after speaking with a counselor for hours but I'm having second thoughts.

RAS1187--since you're a recent grad, i'm wondering if you toured any other schools in the area? Both schools based other programs (Robert Morris, Washburne) but I don't care about prestige, just about the skills I will gain.

[RAS1187]

I recently graduated... about 1 1/2 years ago . I am now pursuing a BA in hospitality from Kendall. Please drop me an email or AIM (RAS1187)sometime, as I am definitely interested in answering any other questions you might have.

I did not tour any other schools in the area when making my decision. This was very stupid on my part, CHIC was the only school I knew about (due to extremely heavy marketing, which also leads to higher tuitions), so they pretty much baited and hooked me with the LCB stuff. While not a bad school, I would have to say that if given the chance again, I would definitely go to Washburne. 14k tuition, CMC on board, no over-prestiged egos to deal with, I would definitely choose them.

All inquiries I have sent to Robert Morris have gone unanswered. I do not know anything about their program, but if they ignore prosperous students like me (multiple times), how do they treat their real students?

Hopefully this answers your questions. Again, post if you have more or just contact me with the info I provided above. Good luck in studies. Do not miss class unless absolutely necessary, give your best effort, and take lots of notes (even if nobody else is doing it).

[jtc1217]

Thanks, I'm definitely withdrawing from CHIC (there goes my $100 application fee) and I'm going to check out Washburne and Robert Morris (they actually got back to me within hours to set up a tour.) Another CHIC graduate (who wished she'd gone somewhere else) suggested the French Pastry School. I'll definitely aim you (jtc1217) for more information.