Le Cordon Bleu Clg-Clnry Arts

Do NOT apply to this school!!!!!!!! The admissions people make all these promises to you that never ever! Happen! I was accepted and then three weeks later denied entry to le cordon bleu because of the type of diploma I have! Their staff is so unprofessional and don't care about helping out potential students they only care about their numbers and how you can make their school look good. I was absolutely crushed when they told me I couldn't go to their school anymore based on my diploma?! I have a modified diploma because of a learning disability and le cordon bleu said that's not a recognized diploma by their accreditors! Okay then why did they not tell me that in the first place? No! Instead they got my hopes up and led me to believe I would be a student! I made huge goals and life changes just to attend this place! Moving to another city, changing my appearance, sending them money taking online test, countless emails and phone calls!!! I did everything they asked and it still wasn't good enough!!!! This school is a joke!!!!!!!!! more

I attended WCI in 1995, and it seems NOTHING has changed. They promised I would be a "CHEF" - only to find out after six weeks they only guarantee you to a "certified cook" level. We argued; they threatened me with defaulting on a loan I never took. I attended two other "classes" and same MO. Screaming, "You aren't smart enough to know how to mop a floor, I have to show you!" So, you don't even have to be smart enough to use a mop to be accepted. I quit and got a business degree from PSU. You know the place, the REAL school just up the street. When I went there it was $14,000 to run their three restaurants, for FREE. Now it is $40K+ You would be wasting a lot fo money and a lot of your learning time going to this "skool." Think about it, down $40,000, work for one year for free, and lose potential earnings (albeit at $9/hr.) of roughly $18,700 (52wk x 40hr/wk x $9/hr) base pay and another $7020 (assuming a minimum of 10 hours of overtime per week at $13.50 per hour, 52 weeks, which is an underestimate in a kitchen). You are out A WHOPPING $65720 for the year. Isn't that like a few years pay (maybe more)? Don't go to school for cooking, do a paid internship. You'll be happier in the long run, trust me. Pros: null Cons: null more

The education might be okay, but after several years of employment I would highly recommend NOT working for CEC/WCI/LCB Pros: They pay pretty well Cons: Management by threat and Intimidation! It's a call center!! more

The chefs are awful, very mean-spirited to students. They have an over 50% failure rate. They accept many students knowing that over 50% will quit. The staff are awful to the students. $40,000, and if you are one minute late on payments they will call you every day. There is a new school, Oregon Culinary, I switched to that and they were wonderful, half the price. Pros: None Cons: The administration and staff more

This culinary school is a great place to learn etiquette and let the students learn and practice at the same time. The students are always aiming to please and the price is right. more

This school will not make you a chef regarless of what the advertisments say, you will start as dishwasher or prepcook. It costs more than a 4 year college, while the degree means little to anyone. The credits won't transfer to a regular community college or 4 year university. Some of the chef instructors will talk about profesionalism, then scream at the top of there lungs in an unprofessional manner. It isn't true that class size is small, our advanced pastry class had to share classroom space with the begining class, depriving them of much needed space as well. Go to a local college and get some culinary hands on training there, its cheaper and there going to teach you the same basics, most chefs don't care where you learned or if it is Le Cordon Bleu, they just want the fundamentals understood. Buy some books like Larousse Gastronomique, On food and cooking and maybe Professional cooking, professional baking, and Garde manger... Pros: There are pros? Cons: yep, go here and you'll get coned alright. more

I 100% agree with the last reviewer. That "school" is a joke! I could have worked at crappy $9/hour jobs without spending the 40K tuition they required at the time (that was a few years ago, I hear it's much higher now). Most respectable Portland food service industries look down on WCI graduates because they don't learn anything useful. Learning how to cut perfect 1-inch dice potatoes will never be used in a real fast-paced kitchen setting. I regret wasting my money there and when others ask me if I'd recommend it I tell them they are better off getting a dishwasher job somewhere and working their way up. Pros: none Cons: All they care about is taking your money more

I went through WCI as a Hospitality Restaurant Management. If you want to pursue this as a "career", do not go to WCI. They flood the job market every six weeks with people graduating, and they are not highly thought of in Portland. There is no support for alumni, no one to call or at least e-mail you once they have their money. Invest the money you would spend here in another school that at least has a good reputation. Pros: Meeting other people in the industry Cons: It's a business out to only make money more