Talk:French Culinary Institute

blatant advertising
I just made some minor changes on the article, but it really does seem like blatant advertising. Perhaps someone can find a third-party source? Perhaps an FCI fan who contributed to the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rosenbluh (talk • contribs) 03:38, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

This really needs to be fixed. The very first paragraph is filled with red flags: "FCI has been thought to be one of the top programs in the world." Has been thought to be? By whom? Can a source be cited on this? And why is that source's thought significant in a broader perspective? "Students have a very high rate of employment upon graduation..." What is the rate, exactly? High is an arbitrary subjective qualifier here that doesn't really tell us anything except that the school is good, which is not the function of an encyclopedia but of an advertisement, as the person above pointed out. "...and often go on to cook in some of the world's best restaurants." How often is often? What are the world's best restaurants, exactly? Which ones do FCI students go to cook in? Techgeist (talk) 20:07, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

User:Techgeist: Couldn't agree more with your points. I looked through a book I had for outside critique (/Becoming a Chef/, Dornenburg and Page, 2003), but was unable to find much said about FCI, though it was mentioned in about four places. (I also looked a bit on the web to no avail.) As annoyed as I am about the page, I do see a value in linking to the various chefs with whom the school does have a strong connection; and, I started a page on the Chef's Story program that I'd like links to. Additionally, most any institution written up in wikipedia or tree-based book is going to highlight an institution's strengths. Part of the problem here is that whomever added the PR material forgot to include nitty-gritty information on the different types of programs or what the Total Immersion (BS) has to do with non-total immersion classes, or even the basics on the number of students (appears to be about 1000 total) or number of faculty members (appears to be 52). Unfortunately the official website is emblematic of the problem we both described: Not only is there an obtrusive flash video on the home page, but it's so large it covers up the menus. However, instead of determining what the graduation rate is, I would rather delete that sentence entirely, unless data from FCI and other Cooking schools presents itself. In the meantime, we can neutralize the adjectives (all-star -> famous) and Total Bullshit (SM/TM/PR/BS). Rosenbluh (talk) 06:23, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure one of the sources cited is even reliable: Chef2Chef.net. "Top 100 Cooking Schools" looks like a page where just anyone can "vote" for their "favorite" school. GranoblasticMan (talk) 14:02, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Recommendation for Combination
While I agree that the article needs tidying up and made to adhere to WP standards, its also somewhat redundant with the International Culinary Center article. My understanding is that the FCI is a program or school within International Culinary Center and not a separate institution. So this article should be folded into (no pun intended) the main article. --Scalhotrod - Just your average banjo playing, drag racing, cowboy... (talk) 18:30, 31 October 2011 (UTC)