Can any one share some thoughts about CHIC?

[chefA]

Hello:

I am looking into starting my culinary education in Chicago (As i just moved to the city last month) and i am considering CHIC (Culinary and Hospitality Institute of Chicago). I have my bachelor degree in Management Information System and i am almost done with my master in Hospitality management but i am looking into establishing a career in the restaurants business and i already started working as a cook in a good catering company in the city.

Did anyone attend the institute? and if so what would you say about it? do you recommend it? is it worth the money? any thoughts or advises would be greatly appreciate it as i don’t want to be making a wrong choice.

Many thanks
Adam

[RAS1187]

I attended, and graduated. My biggest rant was that the program was extremely accelerated (3 week classes; 1.5 years alltogether including externship). Other AAS culinary programs take slightly longer to complete, but the extra time invested is worth it if you ask me. I was young and stupid, and wanted a degree ASAP.

Dont get me wrong, it is not a horrible school, the faculty is actually among the best I know within the area, I just wish they planned the program out where you actually have time to learn instead of just blurring through everything at an extremely fast pace.

May I suggest Washburne Culinary Institute? It is also in the Chicagoland area, they offer an AAS in Culinary Arts for about 1/3 of the price, and have a CMC on staff.

Washburne Culinary Institute Homepage - One of the best and oldest culinary schools in Chicago

[chefA]

Thank you for your reply, i greatly apreciate it. But why do you think 1.5 years is a short period? i actually wanted to attend school that wont stretch more than 2 years as i know you can get the rest from experience, and i personaly had enough schooling so far.

Also, dont you think the affiliation with the Le Cordon Bleu programm is a plus? I mean beside Kendall college i didnt see anything prestegious in the culinary field in Chicago... what do you think? also do employers look at CHIC as a better school than washburn or not?

Many thanks
Adam

[RAS1187]

The more time you spend in school the better IMHO. We don't want to be in school forever, but I felt that in order to grasp the amount of information they were teaching, more time was needed then 3 weeks per class. 3 weeks is not enough time to learn about international cuisine, as well as some of the other classes they offer.

Do not buy into the LCB thing, they will feed it to you and overhype it until you shell out your $50,000. What employers want is an employee that can do the job, whether he/she comes from CHIC, Washburne, or Kendall, ultimately they just want the job to get done. They could care less about the blue LCB sticker on your diploma. There are actually some employers that will not hire from CHIC because of terrible experiences with past students.

[chefA]

Thank you for the reply. Wow... i am now having a second thought about it... if some employers wont hire CHIC students because of a bad previous experience that should tell me a lot .... !! I dont know but the only other choice i was thinking of is Kendall and that one is more than 2 years and much more expensive..... !! I wonder how they allow students to graduate if they are not ready yet or dont know enough... ?

[chefA]

One more question. I found out just today that Kendall has an accelerated AAS program (2 years) for almost the same amount of money CHIC is charging ... would you take Kendall accelerated programm over CHIC ? My classes at CHIC starts on May-21st and i dont want to jump into a bad school honestly.

I mean i noticed when i went to CHIC oriantation that every one on the Financial office team including the manager say FASFA for the federal aid when they shoud say FAFSA .... i was like are they dumb or what? and i noticed other things that made me feel that those people are really not professional.

Thank you for the advises.

[Blueicus]

Depends on the school's motives (beyond simply making money, of course). Of course, no matter which school you go to (and this applies to any university and any program) you're going to have your studs and the duds that manage to graduate. Those that do well in school may not work well in a busy kitchen and vice versa, sometimes there's no good way to tell. Finally, what are the criteria for passing a student? Usually it's a combination of assignments, tests, etc. which aren't a perfect method of evaluation (but then, of course neither are the instructors perfect judges of character).

[RAS1187]

I would go with Kendall... their culinary program seems to be more established, and their kitchens are definitely ultra-modern when compared to CHIC. I am currently studying at Kendall (not culinary) and totally love it!

Originally Posted by chefA

I wonder how they allow students to graduate if they are not ready yet or dont know enough... ?

Simple reason, same as any other school (not just culinary), $$$. Culinary school will prepare you to be a cook, might even get you started in a nice restaurant, but the rest is ultimately up to you. Since you have previous degrees and experience though, I am confident you will do more then fine.