"The Experience"
Culinary and Food Service Degrees: A Full Menu
Author: petersons, Category: College Search
How far do you want to go in the food service industry? It’s an important question to ask yourself since your goals should dictate the type of program you attend. Food service, cooking, and management programs run the gamut from certificate programs to doctoral degrees. Whether you want to manage a local coffee bar or oversee the dietary needs of a nursing home population, the education you need is out there.
There are no free lunches
If you love to slice, dice, and sauté, the best way to get cookin’ on the chef route is by attending a culinary school. Though it may be true that many top chefs never went to cooking school, don’t count on getting to the top without it. There are lots of good cooks, just as there are lots of talented musicians, but not everybody gets to be Emeril or the Rolling Stones. Read the rest of this entry »
I Didn’t Get In … Is There Anything I Can Do?
Author: petersons, Category: Getting Started for College
In an ideal world, you’ll have started your college search early, created a list with a good mix of favorite and safety schools, and gotten in — if not to your first choice, at least to a school that you’re still excited about. Sure, it might not have a film co-op or 24/7 organic salad bar, but you’ll be able to deal, and most importantly, get a great education at a price you can afford.
Now let’s back up a step or two. Say you didn’t start early…and didn’t create a list. Although counselors advise against it, a number of students still apply to only one college, perhaps assuming they’ll get in and not wanting to deal with the extra paperwork. Best case scenario, you do get in, and everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. But what if you don’t?
Read the rest of this entry »
All About Institutional Food Management
Author: petersons, Category: College Search
Not too long ago, a relative of mine headed over to the Middle East to help set up a command center for operations in Iraq. Upon his return to the United States, one of the things he was most impressed by was the quality of food provided to the soldiers he encountered while he was over there. In spite of rugged living conditions where he was (which was outside of Iraq), the soldiers were fed high-quality, often gourmet meals three times a day — undoubtedly a welcome benefit at a time when luxuries and comfort were hard to come by. Read the rest of this entry »
The Waitlist
Author: petersons, Category: Getting Started for College
Waitlisted. Application deferred. You put in your college application and that’s the response you got! Even after you spent hours filling out forms and laboring over the perfect essay! What does it mean, though, and is it a good thing or a bad thing? Well…
Deferral
The first thing you should know is that there is a difference between a deferral and being placed on a waitlist. If your application gets deferred, it means that you haven’t been accepted yet…but you might be…later. Hmmm…what are you supposed to do with that?! Well, if you applied as an Early Action or Early Decision applicant, your application has basically been converted to a regular application. You’ll be reviewed again during the normal admission season with all the other applicants. However, you’ve also been freed from any obligation to attend their school if accepted, and you can go ahead and apply to other schools as you wish. Read the rest of this entry »
The Dish on Restaurant Management
Author: petersons, Category: College Search
If you’ve ever enjoyed a fine meal in an elegant restaurant where every detail was perfect — the food, the service, the décor, the ambience — you can probably thank the behind-the-scenes manager. Or, in some restaurants, the manager may actually thank you!
Quality management means quality service
Eating can mean many things to many people, and what they want from a dining experience dictates where they eat when they eat out: fast food, themed buffets, dinner theaters, or haute cuisine. They may all be different, but they also have one thing in common — management. You’ve probably been in a place where the management was either very good or very bad and if you’re like most people, the quality of your experience did not go unnoticed. Read the rest of this entry »
What to Do with Those Admission and Acceptance Letters
Author: petersons, Category: Getting Started for College
Congratulations! After hours spent trolling the Web, poring over books and catalogs, taking tests, visiting campuses, filling out stacks of paperwork, writing and rewriting your application essay, and, last but not least, keeping up your grades — you’re done! All that’s left to do now is to wait and see what sort of news the mailman brings you so you can plot your course for the next big step: heading off to college. Read the rest of this entry »
A Hot Career: Culinary Arts
Author: petersons, Category: College Search
The roar of the crowd, the smell of the air, the bright lights of the cameras. With your charming personality, coy good looks, and world-renowned flair with a whisk and a designer mixing bowl, you step out to greet your adoring audience. Reflecting back on the path to your dream, you know you did not achieve your success by gourmet brownies alone.
Perhaps this seems a bit out of touch with your more realistic goal of becoming a chef, but even the most famous cooks on television acquired their skills and their success through education and experience. The path they took may have varied a little from the one you’ll take, but the basics were probably the same. Read the rest of this entry »
The Block System vs. Semesters
Author: petersons, Category: Getting Started for College
With so many high schools operating on a block system (where students take fewer, longer classes each term), this is not big news anymore. Admission officials realize that they have to make decisions before they see final grades (or any grades in some cases) in some important senior subjects. However, it’s essential that they know which classes are planned. For example, if your first semester transcript includes English, a foreign language, and history, but you expect to start calculus and physics in January, it should be made clear on your application.
If your school uses a block system, make certain that this is made clear to admission officials so they’ll realize that what may look like a single semester of a subject was really the equivalent of a full year course. Read the rest of this entry »
Design a Career in Fashion
Author: petersons, Category: College Search
Ready, set, style! If you’re one of those people who haunts the retail clothing stores, has a closet bursting with the latest styles, and who can’t resist offering wardrobe advice, a career in fashion design may be right up your alley. If you’ve got creativity, perseverance, and an artistic flair to boot, you’re on your way.
However, if you’re hoping to achieve status as a “fashion diva,” then you’ll need to work hard to establish a reputation and a clientele for your designs, as the market for designer fashion is competitive and fast-paced — but achievable if you’ve got what it takes! For those who reach the apex of this industry, the rewards can be phenomenal. Read the rest of this entry »
How Admission Decisions Are Made: Making the Final Cut
Author: petersons, Category: Getting Started for College
Oh…to be a fly on the wall when the admission committee is meeting. What do you think you might hear?
“3, 5, 8, 6, 9”
The first thing you might hear is the rating each committee member gives your application. If there’s not a consensus, the next thing you might hear is the sound of bickering. Oh, your aching little fly ears! “Look how well she plays the harp!” one man calls out over the protests of the woman pointing out your 390 math SAT score.
NOT! At colleges that accept just about anyone, there probably isn’t a committee — perhaps just a secretary with a rubber “Admit” stamp. However, at the most competitive colleges, your application won’t even be discussed in committee unless you’re firing on all cylinders, meaning excellent grades and scores are a given. What then? Read the rest of this entry »
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