Cooking Degree Programs
How to Select the Right One Near Atlantic City New Jersey
Deciding to become a chef and enrolling in a culinary school near Atlantic City NJ is a great career choice. You will not only be taught how to create extraordinary dishes or make lavish desserts, you'll also be able to earn a good income doing it. However, now that you've made the decision, just how do you go about choosing a culinary arts institute? Before making your ultimate selection, what criteria should you research and compare among the cooking schools you are considering? In order to be successful in the restaurant and hospitality business you must select the appropriate culinary program and degree. There are a multitude of alternatives to select from, starting with a certificate or diploma program and progressing to earning an undergraduate as well as a graduate degree. You can enroll in a small cooking college, an online program, or enroll in a prestigious culinary institute that offers advanced degrees. The kind of degree and school you pick will no doubt be dependent on the amount of time and money you can afford to commit, in addition to your ultimate career goal. After you have established what your primary area of interest and budget are, you can begin assessing the cooking colleges that satisfy your initial qualifications. Depending on the degree and type of culinary school you choose, you can be employed as a professional chef or cook in just 6 months. So before we dive more into the method of picking a school, let's talk a little more about the degree and culinary school choices that are available.
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Culinary Institute Degree Programs
As with a number of other industries or trades in Atlantic City NJ, there are several degree option programs that are offered in the culinary arts. At the most basic level, you can enroll in a nearby cooking course, which are more casual in nature and can run from a few hours to a few weeks. Often a certificate or a diploma is provided upon completion. They may be comprehensive in nature, such as instructing how to cook French dishes, or they can be quite targeted and concentrate on one dish, for instance Crepes Suzette. Naturally if you are looking for a more formal education geared towards a career in the restaurant industry, you will probably want to enroll in a degree program. With a degree program, you will be required to devote considerably more time.
- Associate's Degrees can take as long as 6 months to two years to finish.
- Bachelor's Degrees typically require as much as 4 years of training.
- Masters Degrees may take an added 2 years or more after obtaining a Bachelor's.
More advanced training options may be available, including specialized or Doctoral programs made available by culinary arts institutes. The most important issue to keep in mind when deciding on which degree to pursue is making sure that it supplies the credential and education necessary to advance your ultimate career objectives.
Culinary Colleges
Once you have made your choice regarding the type of training and degree that you would like to pursue, you can start your search for the cooking school, college or institute that offers it. For instance, if your desire is to become a chef specializing in Italian cuisine, then obviously you will concentrate on those institutes that provide the appropriate training. Or you can select an institute based on its ranking or other factors (we'll review several of those later) and then select the most ideal degree program offered that is consistent with your career objectives in Atlantic City NJ. However you make your choice, culinary schools normally fit within 3 different categories:
- Cooking Schools. A few cooking schools do offer degree programs, but generally they offer certificates or diplomas. Their programs tend to be more specialized in nature, and they can range anywhere from 1 or 2 months to as long as 3 to 4 years.
- Community Colleges. Regional community colleges can often be more economical than the majority of private schools and many have excellent programs. They almost exclusively offer Associate's Degrees and are established and managed by either local or state governments.
- Culinary Arts Schools and Institutes. The advanced degrees and training are offered by culinary schools and institutes. A few institutes provide the most highly regarded as well as the highest level of training in academia. Unfortunately, since they are private institutions they generally can be more expensive than their public counterparts, some a lot more.
Choosing a culinary college will not only be dependent on the type of degree or program you wish to pursue, but also how much you have to spend on your education. If you decide to attend a public school to minimize costs, remember that out-of-state residents generally are required to pay a higher tuition than in-state residents. In addition, numerous community colleges and regional public schools have lower tuition rates for area residents. So make sure to explore the public options within New Jersey and also within the Atlantic City NJ area to discover the most economical options.
Online Cooking Colleges
A number of potential students may discover that there are no culinary programs that are within driving proximity of their Atlantic City NJ residence. One solution is to attend online training within the comfort of one's residence. The accessibility and flexibility makes it the only solution for many students that are still working full time while attending classes. Plus there are more schools online than ever before that are accredited. Remember that a significant portion of the training will be furnished under an externship. Externships are programs where students work under regional chefs or other cooking practitioners to ensure that they obtain hands-on training outside of the internet classroom. Just make certain that the online college you decide on is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged organization (more on this later). So if you are disciplined enough to be able to go to classes and study using this more independent fashion, earning a culinary arts degree online might be the right choice for you.
Comparing Culinary Arts Programs
At this point you should have made a decision regarding the type of degree that you plan to attain, and whether or not you would like to enroll in a public or private institute. Since there are numerous culinary arts schools in the Atlantic City area and across the Country, you must create a checklist of important qualifications so that you can start narrowing your choices. Some obvious qualifications, including location and cost are an excellent place to begin. But deciding on a school because it is the closest or the least expensive is not the optimal way to decide on your education. There are other considerations, including reputation and accreditation that you must evaluate as well. Therefore, following are some critical areas that you must investigate for every school as you compare them and make your final selection.
Accreditation. It's important that the culinary school you choose has some form of accreditation from either a local or a national organization. As aforementioned, the accrediting authority should be a U.S. Department of Education recognized organization, for instance the American Culinary Federation (ACF). ACF accredited schools have successfully completed a detailed assessment pertaining to their curriculum, instructors and facilities. Therefore not only does accreditation help ensure that you will receive exceptional training, but it may also assist in obtaining a student loan or financial aid which are generally not available for non-accredited schools.
Age. Newer schools generally have the advantage of possessing modern equipment and facilities. However, they may not have been operating long enough to earn an accreditation or to establish a reputation. Conversely, older schools may still be using their original, dated equipment, but have established a long history of excellence and received one or more accreditations. Also, the longer a school has been in operation, the more graduates the school can reach out to for its job placement program. Certainly there is some give and take dependent on the age of the culinary arts schools. And older, more renowned schools usually modernize their equipment and facilities. The valuable lesson is that in the best case scenario, your chosen school will have an outstanding reputation, accreditation and a modern facility with newer equipment.
Job Placement Rates. To begin with, ask what the graduation rates are for the cooking colleges you are reviewing. Low graduation rates are signs that numerous students were dissatisfied with either the schools or the training and quit before graduating. They can also suggest that the teachers were not qualified to teach the course of study. Ask the schools to furnish their job placement rates also. If a school has a higher job placement rate, it will help affirm that it has a good or excellent reputation within the culinary community, as well as a large network of professional relationships. Watch out for any school that will not provide this information.
Location. The culinary institute that you attend should be within driving distance of your Atlantic City home, unless you can relocate. You may think about attending school online, but you would still need to travel for your externship program. Alternatively, perhaps you have chosen to go to a particular culinary college located in another state due to its ranking and programs offered. It would be a good idea to check out the campus before enrolling, to make certain that you are comfortable with the location and your future living conditions. Tour the training facilities personally to make certain they are up to date and that the equipment is state of the art. Consider also that many schools focus their job placement programs within their local communities, so choose a location where you will be happy working.
Class Sizes. The most effective approach to learn how to cook is with a lot of one-on-one training. If the culinary arts college you enroll in has larger classes, you will most likely get limited individual attention from the teachers. The optimal means to evaluate the interaction and communication between instructors and students is to audit a few of the classes. Ask a couple of the students what their experience has been. Ascertain if they are satisfied with the level of attention they receive in class in addition to the entire course of training. Also, speak with a few of the instructors and determine what their teaching styles are along with their histories and qualifications.
Flexible Class Schedules. There is no benefit to in enrolling in a culinary institute if you will not be able to attend the classes. So confirm that the school you select provides class scheduling that can fit in with your busy lifestyle. If you can only attend at night or on Saturdays or Sundays near Atlantic City NJ due to your job schedule, make certain that the school you pick offers either weekend or evening classes. If you can only attend part-time, verify that the culinary arts college has a part-time alternative. Also, find out what the make-up policy is if you must miss a class due to work, family or other responsibilities.
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Enroll in the Best Atlantic City Cooking School
A rewarding career in the hospitality and restaurant business is predicated upon deciding on the right chef college. As we have discussed, there are several things that you need to take into account when evaluating schools, including their accreditation, reputations, and training facilities. Just like any important decision, you must begin by getting information, and the ideal means to accomplish that is by getting in touch with culinary arts institutes directly, either face to face or by phone. If you're unsure about which schools to consider, you might need to consider asking chefs in your area about any culinary arts schools they recommend. Afterwards use the Internet to investigate those schools further before you contact them. By making the effort to carefully evaluate each of your education alternatives, you will find yourself in a much better position to make an informed decision. And when you pick the perfect school, you will have a wonderful beginning toward your goal of becoming a chef in Atlantic City New Jersey.
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