Is going to a culinary school for college worth it rather than just attending a college with a Food service program?

Answered

My best guess is that attending the best Culinary schools in America, will get you direct exposure to the best techniques, recipes and access to internships at the best restaurants versus a college with a food program.

I visited the Culinary Institute in America in Hyde Park, NY and it was very impressive. That is like the Harvard of Culinary Schools. What admission and graduation from a place like that affords is access to work in some of the best restaurants in NYC, Boston, Philly and DC. There is a CIA on the West Coast so that would be good if you want to work in San Fran or LA. Anthony Bourdain and Melissa Kelly are alumni as well as slew of others. Many of them have also won James Beard awards as well.

https://www.ciachef.edu/cia-alumni-bios/

I think it depends on what your end game is. If you are truly a foodie and want to create and share something unique, exciting, fresh and contemporary to a wide audience, you need to have access to great teachers who will show you how to cook the basics and run a successful kitchen. If you are happy with opening up a family restaurant in your town that serves decent food for a good price, I don't think you need a formal education to do something like that.

When you go to a top school you are paying for access to trade secrets and the best teachers and the networking opportunity both while at school and to land your first job. The downside is that it's more expensive and the competition is fierce. You might not graduate as a top chef but somewhere in the middle of your class.

I think you have to do this assessment on your own and weigh your options and decide how good you want to be. It's hard to do a do-over , so if you end up at a college with a food service program, it might be impossible to transfer into CIA after you have trained a certain way for 2 years.

Good luck.