<p>I was wondering how hard is it to get into? My brother will be a junior and has like a 3.0 and will get a tech diploma. He wants to be a chef though. This is just one campus he is interested in. Can he apply to more than one campus of Johnson and Wales? Is one campus harder than the other? He is going to do a culinary program at our school for senior year. The application really doesn't say much at all. It doesn't look like much requirements. How do you not get in, because there was no essay or anything. You don't have to take a foreign language or have SAT scores. Are they good with fin. aid? How's the program where he could apply during his junior year? Where does he stand and we can't find other schools accept local tech schools or CIA. Is the Art Institute or Le Cordon Bleu any good? Thanks!</p>
<p>I have a nephew who graduated from the Charlotte campus two years ago so I have some small bit of info for you. It’s not hard to get into Johnson and Wales but at times can be hard to stay in the program. They are looking for people serious about the various fields. They know that some of the kids will be executive chefs or managers and some will graduate and be happy with other positions within the kitchen staff. Then there will be kids who simply don’t have what it takes and will be asked to leave.</p>
<p>My nephew was a so so student in high school but he was a kitchen manager in a chain restr. during his junior/ senior years and did really well there. I think your brother doing something his senior year will really help show his interest to the university.</p>
<p>J&W is remarkably supportive of it’s students, the profs are fantastic. My nephew stays in touch with many of his teachers. </p>
<p>The Charlotte campus is the place you want to be…it’s gorgeous. The J&W near Brown University in RI used to be their main campus but Charlotte is the new center and they’ve spared no expense. The dorms are actually apartments, really nice apartments complete with two baths and washer/dryer, balconies and barbeque/grills areas out front. There is a huge pool and a really sweet gym.</p>
<p>Best part, the campus feels like a campus. And in fact it is…every student has to take academic courses on top of their culinary studies. My nephew grumbled about this, but the fact is…you can’t be an executive chef without some academic polish. My nephew really hated writing papers…saw no reason for it but now understands that being able to communicate effectively is a powerful tool in his career. Make sure your brother chooses a program that has some academics included.</p>
<p>There will be events on campus like other universities and colleges and in the end he’ll definitely feel like he had a college experience.(Especially if he does the 4 year program) J&W is a very respected program producing many top chefs(like Emeril). And I get the feeling that the kids stay friends for life.(Great networking)</p>
<p>One quibble, I think while they do produce some top chefs, their program is more geared for turning out executive chefs for big hotels, resorts and chains. Which isn’t a bad thing but they don’t seem to be striving to produce those chefs that consider themselves artists. I think for that you might want to check out CIA. My nephew is very happy with his career path…the quibble remains mine alone.</p>
<p>Good luck to your brother!</p>
<p>Thanks so much Hekau. We actually live a couple hourse from Charlotte, so it may be good for him. We actually visited the North Miami campus, but really wasn’t that impressed. We are from South Florida, but the area and campus was not that great. Also, my brother does not want to learn Spanish. He also isn’t very into academics, but loves to cook. He liked it because of the 4 yrs too, but it’s a lot of money though. CIA looks like a good option too, but maybe a reach though. There are more requirements. But thanks so much again…</p>
<p>Before Charlotte, none of the campuses were all that…in fact some of them were in strip malls. But they were saving their pennies I guess to build the Charlotte campus.(But the profs were always top notch at all locations) Charlotte would definitely be worth a drive for you guys to check it out.</p>
<p>Frankly, I wonder if it’s their intention to close the other campuses, I seem to recall there was some discussion of that. At the time, I believe kids transfered to the new Charlotte for their last two years and there was a lot of rivalry between the various cohorts until they got closer. </p>
<p>The academics shouldn’t scare him, they are well aware that for many of their students, academics is rather a weak point. They don’t spoon feed them but they seem pretty vigilant on making sure their profs, while being good teachers, can teach to kids who may have different learning styles.(This impressed me greatly…they know they have bright kids and want the best for them…sometimes seeking out untraditional methods) In any case, the academics are there to help them, I doubt anyone has ever dropped out or been asked to leave because of the academics.</p>
<p>But LOL at the not wanting to learn spanish…he won’t be able to survive without knowing the language. My nephew picked it up easily working in the kitchen, fairly painlessly.(Cause, oh the pranks and pitfalls that can happen when you can’t speak kitchen spanish) I want to say it’s absolutely necessary…as a chef you need a loyal staff…just starting out you need people at your back. Learn the language and your life is soooo much easier. Very often my nephew has been protected from various kitchen dramas because he made friends with his staff. Also, tell him not to worry, he’ll learn the language easily, very often it’s almost complete immersion.(And hey, he’ll learn how to REALLY swear in another language:) )</p>
<p>Have your brother read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, it’s a great fun read that tells it really like it is.</p>
<p>When we checked out Miami, you had to do academics the last two years. But I think Miami is different, you have to know Spanish to work in Miami. In Miami, everyone is mostly Spanish though. Its not the same everywhere and I guess it kind of depends on where you work. I think lots of the chains have a lot Spanish workers, but it may be different if it’s your own restaurant. I think he should do fine, but do you know about fin. aid? Do they tend to give a lot out? I will also tell him about the book. </p>
<p>We have been to Denver (not the JWU campus though) and none of us liked it much. We went in the summer, but it was too dry for us. I think humidity is better than feeling dry. Also, NC is so beautiful and a great place to go to college. Our family also likes to hike and I’m sure there places. We’ve even been to a ski resort in NC and got stunk up the mountain. Btw, how do people not meet JW requirements? I just can’t find much out there.</p>
<p>Hey, so my brother is a junior now and I’m really helping him with the search. He is not the kid who is really intrested in college stuff. He really wants to go to Johnson and Wales in Charlotte and he thinks he will be going there. But really how hard is it? And I’m worried for him because he failed math in sophomore year and got D’s in math freshman year. He really is good at basic math, just not at the advanced stuff. He also is just taking 3 years of math. He has about a 3.0 GPA like I said above and is basically the complete opposite of me. My dad thinks he will get in, he got in to the Providence campus in the late 80’s and he had a C average. </p>
<p>I’m worried because he doesn’t always try and care about grades as much as I do. He also is on IEP, but doesn’t have ADD or anything. My mom is an elm teacher, so she knows a lot about it. My dad’s biggest worry is that he will flunk out. My dad went to three college’s until 25 and never graduated, my mother did graduate at 22. My dad’s father was a lawyer and had the money, but my father doesn’t want to waste the money his father wasted. My dad is very successful now and has his own company. He has gotten B’s in the cooking type classes he’s taken, but he seems to like it. He use to want to be a zoologist and loves animals, but he doesn’t want to do that anymore. My parents suggested going to community college and becoming a vet assistant. He didn’t seem
intrested. I thought it was a good idea.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much fin. aid we will get. My mom didn’t get any when she went to college and her father made less and is middle class like us. And my parents are having a baby due in Dec! I have one other brother who is in 7th grade. I’m a sophomore in high school, but I’m like the one who researches the college stuff. I have stopped the search for me, because I still have time and I pretty much know what I want. My dad doesn’t like the price tag of J&W which doesn’t help him. He thinks he is in and my dad does too, but I don’t think they get the whole process. My mom is an elm teacher, so she doesn’t know how it works. My dad should be making more money in the next couple years, but he won’t be able to pay 50k a year. My mom’s friend who is a teacher went to NYU and is still paying off loans (she is in her late 30’s) and she lived at home when she went to school! </p>
<p>The other problem is this. Does Johnson and Wales require a foreign language and SAT scores? I have researched it and I’m pretty sure they don’t. My dad is suppose to call and find out. My brothers IEP teacher didn’t tell him to take a language and now he is taking a computers class, when he is very bad with computers. I’m not great either, I just know the basics! He also says he doesn’t need a language and does not need to take the SATS. He has gotten B’s in Language Arts but got a C- last semester, writing is a week point and my dad has to help him type papers. Would it be possible to go to tech school or a community college and then transfer to J&W? Wouldn’t he be behind with the culinary stuff? I know some tech schools have culinary, but I don’t know if it’s on the level as J&W is. </p>
<p>How is Le Cordon Bleu and The Art Institute of Atlanta? I haven’t heard great things about them and they seem to be in the same price rage as J&W. He doesn’t do much extracurricular activities, he did soccer freshman year and he has been in a bowling league since middle school. I’m also worried for myself, because I go to college a year later. What happens if my parents spend all the money on him and I’m the one stuck on loans? I want to go into acting, print journalism or screenwriting. It isn’t exactly a luxury life style. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Bump???</p>
<p>Thanks again, :)</p>
<p>Thought it would be interesting to note that I was recently reviewing the school today on collegeboard with a prospective student, they claim they will be attending there in the fall if they get accepted. They like the school, found out about it through mail.</p>
<p>My brother has looked into culinary schools since freshman year. We looked at J&W in Miami, but we are from Florida and he likes the NC campus better. Does anyone know how much aid J&W gives? Are they known for giving a lot of aid or little to none? Thanks for your response too Coolbreeze.</p>
<p>My cousin’s S attends J&W Charlotte. He is a senior. I know he has taken out a lot of loans. I don’t know what kind. I don’t think they were very well informed on FA when they went into it. He was not a good student in h.s., also had ADD. He worked in several restaurants around his hometown before heading to J&W at age 22. He has worked at a couple of really nice restaurants in Charlotte while in sch.</p>
<p>A young man fr. our church went to J&W straight out of h.s. (lived at home).
I don’t think he was an outstanding h.s. student. He did the two yr. program and got a good job right away. Don’t know anything about the financial end of it.</p>
<p>The Charlotte campus is very cool. It is in downtown Charlotte. Your brother would have to be comfortable in an urban setting.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response PackMom! I find it good that you don’t have to be a great student. I don’t like the loans part though but I guess we will have to see. I’m probably going to get loans as well, which I don’t like. My family is middle class, more upper then lower. I thought J&W is a 4 yrs school though? </p>
<p>We have grown up in the suburbs of South Florida and now have lived in Georgia for the past five years. I think it would be different, but it’s not like it’s NYC or anything. I think Charlotte is a nice sized city as well.</p>