Need Baking/Pastry Advice on Education

[oneguy]

Sorry if this is close to other questions that have been asked but I have not found anything that really answered what I am wanting to know.
I am thinking of going to a culinary school like WCI for their baking/pastry program but I dont know if it's worth the extra money for the AA program or if the certificate will be good enough. (It certainly is cheaper) but still quite expensive. I am already married and in my mid 30s and a move like this will be very costly not just for the tuition but because Portland has a much higher cost of living then where I now live.
Although my goal is to start my own bakery, (I only sell to random coffee shops and individuals from word of mouth at this time) I wouldn't, of course, have the finantial means to start something like that right out of school. I would like to work in the best bakery I could, but I dont know how they will see my education as far as hiring me.
I hope I have not rambled too much but if anyone has any suggestions or advise I would highly appreciate it.
Thank you-

[Thomski]

Your first step is determining WHY you want to go to culinary school.
You are already doing pastry work on your own.
Are there certain skills you are looking to acquire?
Do you need to learn more about owning and running a business?
Do you think you need to go to school to get a job at the “best bakery”

If your ultimate goal is to own a bakery I will be honest with you and tell you that culinary school will set you back!
You will have less capital to start a business, if you are considering taking out a loan it will put you even further behind. Culinary school will teach you a lot of great techniques, but you will probably use very few of them in your business. And so while you are learning something that is fairly unimportant to your goal you could be at the bank applying for a business loan.

If you are going to put your money into any additional education I would look into a program about running a small business.

Culinary school may teach you really great techniques, but if you can’t run a business at a profit it won’t do you any good.
Best of Luck!

Sara

[naunga]

One thing to always keep in mind about this business is that experience and a good attitude are much more important at the beginning than your education.

Lots of chefs would much rather train someone with zero experience, instead of putting up with someone who will argue over technicalities.

The AA degree probably differs from the certificate in that for the AA degree you probably have to take things like English and math. If you can read, write, and do math...then why pay the extra money to prove it?

Well, that's my take.

Later,

Naunga