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Evaluating Culinary Schools
By now you should have decided on the type of degree that you wish to attain, and whether or not you want to enroll in a public or private institute. Since there a large number of culinary schools in the Milwaukee area and within the Country, you must develop a checklist of important qualifications so that you can start narrowing your choices. A few obvious qualifications, for instance cost and location are an excellent place to start. But selecting a school because it is the nearest or the most affordable is not the ideal way to make a decision regarding your education. There are other factors, including reputation and accreditation that you need to evaluate also. Therefore, following are some critical areas that you will need to research for every school as you compare them and make your ultimate decision.
Accreditation. It's important that the culinary arts school you decide on has some form of accreditation from either a regional or a national authority. As previously mentioned, the accrediting authority should be a U.S. Department of Education recognized agency, for example the American Culinary Federation (ACF). ACF accredited schools have successfully completed a comprehensive review regarding their course of study, teachers and facilities. Therefore not only does accreditation help establish that you will receive exceptional training, but it can also help in obtaining a student loan or financial aid which are often not offered for non-accredited schools.
Age. Recently established schools often have the benefit of possessing modern equipment and facilities. However, they may not have been in operation long enough to acquire an accreditation or to cultivate a reputation. Conversely, older schools may still be using their original, outdated equipment, but have established a sustained history of success and received one or more accreditations. Also, the much more a school has been in business, the more graduates the school can reach out to for its job assistance program. Obviously there is some give and take based on the age of the culinary schools. And older, more highly regarded schools typically update their equipment and facilities. The valuable lesson is that in the best case scenario, your school of choice will have an outstanding reputation, accreditation and a state-of-the-art facility with newer equipment.
Job Placement Rates. To begin with, find out what the graduation rates are for the cooking institutes you are examining. Low graduation rates are red flags that many students were unhappy with either the colleges or the courses and quit before graduating. They might also indicate that the instructors were not competent to teach the course of study. Ask the schools to provide their job placement rates also. If a college has a higher job placement rate, it will help validate that it has a good or excellent reputation within the cooking field, in addition to a wide network of professional connections. Watch out for any school that will not furnish this information.
Location. The cooking school that you enroll in must be within commuting distance of your Milwaukee home, unless you are willing to relocate. You may look into attending college online, but you would still need to travel for your externship training. On the other hand, maybe you have decided to attend a particular culinary arts college located in a different state because of its ranking and courses offered. It would be a good idea to visit the facility before enrolling, to make sure that you are comfortable with the location and your future living conditions. Tour the training facilities personally to make certain they are modern and that the equipment is state of the art. Keep in mind also that some schools target their job assistance programs within their local communities, so pick a location where you will enjoy working.
Class Sizes. The best approach to learn how to cook is with plenty of personalized training. If the culinary institute you enroll in has bigger classes, you will undoubtedly get limited individual attention from the teachers. The optimal manner in which to assess the interaction between faculty and students is to attend several of the classes. Ask a couple of the students what their experience has been. Find out if they are satisfied with the amount of attention they receive in class as well as the overall training. Also, speak with a couple of the instructors and learn what their teaching approaches are along with their histories and qualifications.
Flexible Class Schedules. There is no benefit to in enrolling in a culinary arts college if you will be unable to attend the classes. So make certain that the school you decide on offers class scheduling that will accommodate your active lifestyle. If you can only attend at night or on weekends near Milwaukee WI because of your job schedule, verify that the school you pick offers either weekend or night classes. If you can only attend part-time, verify that the cooking college has a part-time offering. Also, find out what the make-up protocol is if you need to miss a class because of work, family or other obligations.
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