I was wondering which direction is better to take? A 2/4 yr program at CIA or a 15-month program at a local school that offers the Le Cordon Bleu? I was considering becoming a Pastry Chef & was not sure if it is better to study in a specific Pastry program like CIA or a general culinary program like Le Cordon Bleu?

There is no universal answer to your question. It has been asked and answered dozens of times here, that's why there was no reply.

What is good for one person is a major mistake for another.

If money is not an issue the CIA offers more facilities, talented instructors and resources than any school in the US or the world.

If you are going to have to pay for it yourself seriously evaluate the local program for yourself.

Visit the campuses.

Students decide what they will get from a program by what they put in. You might have enough drive to get every bit of knowledge out of a small program in a short time and get bored. It would take many life times to use all of the resources available from the CIA.

Read the other threads on the topic here.

Here is a link to my view on
How To Evaluate a Program

It's still in beta testing but here's a link to easily search the Old WebFoodPros Forums- Search

George

I appreciate your help. Money is an issue, and leaving my family to move to NY to go to CIA is another issue. My concern is wheter or not to put all my eggs (sort of speak) in 1 basket and go with just a Pastry Chef program or 1 that covers it briefly in a general course. I am hopelessly confused and unsure.

It is good to get full training first, then you can specialize, this way if you can't find work in your specialty, you can work somewhere else in food service untill a spot in your specialty opens.

Thank You Corey for re-assuring my own thoughts.