Also, you have to be extremely self-motivated to get something out of the program. If you don’t push yourself to read books outside of class, work efficiently, ask questions, the whole experience can coast by and you can wind up coming out on the other end with exposure to a lot of things without really understanding the science behind them – which gives you the common sense and wisdom to become a chef down the road. For me, career services has been the biggest benefit – they are hugely helpful and the reason I chose to go to school in the first place. I could not have gotten in the door at the places I’ve been interning at my age without them.

Before you lay out the bucks to go to cooking school, I strongly urge you to try to intern in a restaurant first (or bakery, or for a caterer, or whatever you goal may be). Cooking school is expensive and there are many chefs out there who learned on the job, without ever setting foot in a culinary school. I don’t mean to sound discouraging, but it’s a lot of money, so make sure that what you think you want is really what you get.

The FCI and ICE both have night programs. I’m in class with a lot of people who work at corporate jobs and commute home for an hour to Jersey. They make it work, so it’s not impossible.

Hope that helps – I could go on and on…