Culinary Institute of America Top Questions

I wish I can have more time to brush up my maths and accounting skills as these subjects play important role towards the second year of the program. Another important factor is the relevant experience in kitchen skill before starting the program is useful as I will not be competing with other students who had ample experience assisting Chef in the kitchen.

The one thing I wish i had known before starting school at The Culinary Institute of America would be prepare more and know a little more about the school and how the classes would be. The classes are six hours long everyday for the most part, it is a lot of work and very tiring but if you love this career choice then you would be fine.

That this industry gives no weekends and holidays

I did extensive research on the school before I can, and the admissions team here does a fantastic job on conveying information and all the details about the school. I knew everything I needed to know.

I wish that I knew mroe about the area surrounding the school, it can sometimes be hard to find somethign to do. I have found a lot of hiking trails which is good. However there are TONS of on-campus activities.

I wish that had known more about the curriculm set up and the externship i had to do.

How the school seems to always be greedy in regards to money. The school always seems to spen alot of money on keepeing up their image to the public and potential students and contributers. It dosn't really seem to care that much about the student body that are currently enroled. I wish they would be more accomidating to us and that they would utilize some of their funds to make the facilities better for the student body.

I wish I had known that the CIA is not as generous as they say they are with their financial aid packages.

Wish I had done more research on diffrent chefs and resaurants to I had a better idea of what i wanted to do or where I wanted to go for extern.

I wish I had been given more education in High school or even in my first semester of the CIA about financial planning and budgeting... my only regret of college is that I spent lots of money on things that i really didn't need, and now am suffering the consequences with only one smemester to go until gradduation.

How to work harder with less talking and how to work with peaople even if i do not like the,m . to be a chef it is not an easy job, you have to work a lot of hour and be always on top of things. organization is the key for this job. i wish i had a bigger picture of what this school is all about in order to be prepared.

Academic drive

I wish I had known how isolated the school was from any nearbby city or town where things like entertainment, food, or recreation can be reached easily. If you want to live on-campus you may want to consider having a car since nothing is walking distance and weekends can get really boring.

That the first six weeks are strictly academic classes. You are responisble for any alterations necessary to your school uniform.

I wish I would have known that there is no public transportation so I could have brought a car.

I wish I had known how difficult it would be to work and study at the same time. I need off-campus employment to fund my family, and fitting it into a rotating schedule that changes every three weeks is very hard. Time management is a crucial skill to learn here.

what types of transportation are available around the area.

I wish i would of known how great this school was along time ago. i have tried other schools abut they were nothing like this school. I wish i would of known from the begining that i was going to meet great chefs and get to cook really great food. and that this city is amazing.

That some of the advanced cooking classes that I wanted to learn to be able to compete in the indsutry are not even offered. Such as classes in molecular gastronomy for the students.

i wish i knew how hard it would be to go here. and how much stuff i would really need to bring like a microwave.

There isn't a whole lot to do in Hyde Park. Weekends can get boring.

The classes are very fast paced so you need to be organized and pay attention or you will not keep up.

I wish i had known how fast the program would go. I feel that i missed a few things because of how fast it progressed.

That I should never take a final lightly, and study more, even for the easy classes.

I wish i had known to save money.

If I could know or find out one thing about this school before I began attending, that thing would be that academics make a great cook/chef. Many people who are not familiar with culinary aspects fail to realize that there is heavy emphasis on knowing every detail involved with preparing and consuming food. I came to this school intially only expecting to receive cooking fundamentals, but have since found myself being challenged both physically with kitchen work and mentally from the drive and expectations of the professors/chefs here.

How fast it goes by! I feel as though I just started at the school and yet I will be graduating so soon! I wish I had a little more time to take advantage of all that is offered.

Nothing, we visited and asked questions so the length of class was expected.

Honestly, I knew everything I really needed to know before I came to the CIA. One thing that helps to understand before arriving is how the schedule works. Unlike other colleges it is based on a block system starting every three weeks, so every three weeks, a new group of students arrives, leave for externship, and graduates. There is a constant flow of people coming and going from the school.

I wish I had known how strict they would be about behavioral infractions

I wish I would have known what the class sizes were like. There are far more students in each class than I had expected, which I feel has affected my education. This might have affected my decision on attending this school.

i wish i knew how to network better with people my age, and with people who will help my life and career flourish

That I would need a car to get around.