KevinS

You can trust them to take your money and run you through their program. The$e $chool$ are busine$$e$ fir$t. And nothing wrong with that. But wipe the stars out of your eyes now because the school bills certainly will later. ← I would say that about most schools, but I thought a lot of the more established schools such as CIA and Johnson & Wales were more work it because of their non-profit status, and the fact I can't read any book anywhere without the CIA being mentioned. Edit: Also CIA has a huge amount of scholarships available, which means if I could get them the total cost wouldn't be that bad. Especially in comparison to other places. If I had to only take out loans to go there, and could not cut down the cost a lot, then I simply wouldn't attend.

Thanks a lot for the replies. I was thinking what you guys said all along, but I guess I needed other opinions to finally help me realize it. My admissions contact with the school is doing what I consider a very good job, she even made sure I read and re-read the papers and stuff (and I made sure I read their cancellation policy, which I'm glad I did), but the lady that handles all the money is just ugh... I'm really glad I'm about to be done with my first degree in college now, had I not been through stuff like this and grown as a person I'm sure I'd be signing loan papers already. I am thinking I should just bite the bullet and move to a place where I know no one and go to CIA. At least I know I can trust them and get a quality education...

Hey everyone, first time poster, Long story short, I am applying to culinary school at the Texas Culinary Academy in Austin (an affiliate of Cordon Bleu) and am having a hard time figuring out how I am going to pay for all of this. I know I am more than qualified for scholarship opportunities, but every one I manage to find requires I be of some other race, from a different state, or something along those lines, OR ... be applying to CIA. All my financial aid contact does is ramble about how hard it is to find scholarships, without really helping, and then trying to force me into loans that won't even cover my entire cost of schooling, and would leave me and my family trying to figure out how to pay the remainder. So, can anyone out there give me some tips for scholarships/grant websites? I've checked most of the basic, and waited a month for the new James Beard one to be posted on their website only to find out I wasn't eligible for any part of it... Also, when it is time to repay any loans I do have, can anyone give me an estimate of how much I may have to pay back a month (from personal experience). The lady at TCA just says "it varies" and refuses to give me a ballpark low and high figure, which leaves me a bit worried. P.S. Before anyone mentions it, because I've seen it here before, I know what I am getting into with the cooking world. I have read nearly everything I can on the subject by Bourdain, Ruhlman, Dornenburg/Page, and am attempting to tackle McGee now, but that would could take a while. I also have been on the line at the busiest restaurant in the city for 4 months now, so I do at least have some experience in the field and know what I am getting into.