bufano,
sorry for the dlay in response. i have been lurking in the baking and pastry section for a while. that is where my heart lies. i love cooking, dont get me wrong.
a little bit about myself... as kyle said, i am a student of the cia. i am in my second year and i will be attending the cia for all 4 years. i am in the culinary part of the program. i went to another culinary school before i went to the cia and got my certifacate there.
to answer some of your questions... yes, i have tons of loans. i did get some scholorships. depending on your need and how good your grades are, there are tons of scholorships to appie for. just wait till you get here, you will see

. there are a lot of catering companies near the school and they are always looking for help. i am very picky which ones i work for becasue i hate working in bad catering operations. money is good there though. i also work on campus. there are plenty of jobs on campus to keep you busy. i can go into more detail if you need more info on that,
the teachers here are great i think. one thing i want you to remember though.... two things actually... well. a lot of things but the most important things are to ask questions. try not to care about what your classmates thing of you asking questions. most of them dont care. its the students that take time to ask questions that will get ahead of everyone. come off humble to the chefs.. not arragant.
another thing to keep in mind is that SCHOOL IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT TO BE. you can certainlly do the minimal work and drink and do drugs like most people here do or you can study your butt off, take advantaouge of the library and vidoe library, trail in other classes, sit in on other chefs lectures, and take advantaouge of the CE courses that chefs teach here. its what YOU make of it. i deadacate all my time to studing, researching, and learning. i take a **** load of notes and ask questions all the time. matter of fact, i dont take my dinner break becasue i am to busy learning and practising things i need to work on. i beleieve that i will have an edge on people when i get out. this school... be it the best school or not.... is what you make of it. just remember this. i see to many of my old friends that have graduated already that say they wish they would have took advantoug of the resourses this school has.
i would like to recomend you visit my web site at
http://pages.zdnet.com/ichefisaac/beyondbread/ then go to the culinary school page. this will give you some info.
if you would like any help from me, feel free to email me at
[email protected] or call 845 483 2857. if i am not home, leave a message,
when do you start?
any more questions, let me know.