OH ME, OH MY. It is OFFICIALLY time to discuss the AWFUL, the DREADED…
Before we hop into the nitty gritty, I want to explain what the title “RDN” entails.
Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) are food and nutrition experts. A “RDN” is NOT the same as a nutritionist; every RDN is a nutritionist, but not every nutritionist is a RDN. The “RDN” credential can only be used by practitioners who are currently authorized by the Commission on Dietetic Registration of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. According the AND, RDNs are those who have met the following criteria to earn the RDN credential:
♡ Completed a minimum of a bachelor’s degree at a US regionally accredited university or college and course work accredited or approved by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
♡ Completed an ACEND-accredited supervised practice program at a health-care facility, community agency, or a foodservice corporation or combined with undergraduate or graduate studies. Typically, a practice program will run six to 12 months in length. – THIS is the “Lord Voldemort” i was referring to above !! 🤣
♡ Passed a national examination administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR)
♡ Completed continuing professional educational requirements to maintain registration
I’m currently wrapping up my last semester at UW-Madison with a degree in Dietetics and a certificate in entrepreneurship and I’m BEYOND THRILLED to announce that I will be completing my Dietetic Internship ( DI ) supervised practice at Loyola University in Chicago !!
In this post, I want to keep everything COMPLETELY transparent – no B.S. I do my best to keep everything fun and lighthearted on AHTK, but studying Dietetics and applying to the DI have been the most difficult, humbling, stressful, BUT also rewarding experiences. I’ve made many sacrifices to set myself up ( the best I can ) for success.
I compared the DI to “Lord Voldemort” because the match rate hovers around 50%, meaning that only about half of applicants are matched to a Dietetic Internship. Many of the internships I applied to only accept ~10 interns from over 100 applicants.
SEE WHY THE DI APP. PROCESS IS LIKE LORD VOLDEMORT??
I stayed in my own lane when I was applying to the DI; I didn’t want to compare myself to others, overthink where I was applying, or stress myself out more than I already was ( if that’s possible?? ).
**DISCLAIMER**
With that, PLEASE keep in mind that this is my unique journey and experience. I didn’t do things perfectly, I’m not a DI application coach – I honestly felt like I had no idea what I was doing – and EVERYONE’S EXPERIENCE IS DIFFERENT! The comparison game is the WOAT. I want to share my story to make others feel more comfortable starting their application, not to trigger the comparison game.
Where I applied:
I applied to 4 internships through DICAS – the Dietetic Internship Centralized Application Service. Most applicants apply though this platform. During this process, you rank your choices on D&D Digital and they rank you. On match day ( this year was April 7 at 6:00 CST ) you get matched to ONE or NONE. Only 2 of the 4 internships I applied to through DICAS interviewed their for top applicants. These are the 4 internships I applied to through DICAS + what stood out about them:
♡ LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO:
- Close to home
- Public health concentration – to improve my public health competency and ability to adjust when educating diverse populations, communities, & backgrounds
♡ MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL:
- Moving to Boston
- 3 week business plan rotation – love the idea of enhancing my business knowledge
♡ VIRGINIA TECH, NORTHERN VA:
- Moving to DC
- Leadership concentration – skills to apply to AHTK
♡ CAL POLY SLO:
- I can’t deny that the location/ weather sounded V APPEALING!!
- Wellness emphasis
I also applied to Dominican University’s MBA/RDN Coordinated Program. The DU’s application was outside of DICAS and I was accepted into their program waaaay before I matched on match day. I applied because:
♡ DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY:
- Close to home – I live a few towns over from DU!
- I wasn’t interested in a coordinated program ( Master’s + DI ), but if I were to get my masters, it would be in business!
- FYI: Starting in 2024, future RDNs will be required to hold a Master’s or Doctoral degree to be considered eligible to sit for the registration exam
- There would be less pressure on match day!
I only interviewed with Loyola. This interview was supposed to be in person, but I was with my family on spring break in Florida. I’ll be honest, I was willing to stay at home in Chicago instead of going on spring break just for the interview, but they were very accommodating for my situation.
I was disappointed that I didn’t get receive an offer to interview with Cal Poly, but at the end of the day, what’s mean to be is meant to be. This leads me to my first tip:
Tip 1: Focus on what you can control
You can’t control how many people who apply to the program, you can’t control the 50% match rate, and you can’t change your current GPA. Don’t focus on the things that you can’t control – it’s a waste of valuable energy and time that could be spent on adding buzz words to your resume, revising on your personal statement, or refining the information on the Awards, Experience & Volunteer Activities section.
At the end of the day, you did your absolute BEST to prepare yourself to be a competitive applicant. Reflecting back on my studies, there wasn’t much more I could have done to drastically change my GPA. I spent countless hours in the library studying and sacrificed many fun opportunities ( including going abroad ) and nights out with my girlfriends so I could focus on my grades and future.
I stuck to my mission and goals as a RD2Be… My personal statement ( PS ) was VERY bold – the first sentence of my PS said, “Most of my accomplishments and goals can be explained by the intersection of two of my favorite realms: healthy food and social media”. My concern was that the programs I applied to wouldn’t be open to my untraditional, contemporary view on dietetics, but I confidently stuck to it. You can’t be half pregnant with your values as a RD2Be – show the program that your applying to that you are confident in yourself, your interests, and your long term goals! If a program didn’t appreciate my contemporary view, it wasn’t meant to be. I think my bold PS is what helped me match to Loyola’s competitive program.
REPEAT AFTER ME : “The ball is in their court. I stayed true to myself and I did all I could to prepare myself to be the most competitive applicant I could be.”
Tip 2: Find your unique angle
As I said above, there is nothing more you can do at this point to drastically change you GPA, but you can write a bomb personal statement to set yourself apart from other applicants! My PS was unique, V BOLD, but it did help me stand apart from other applicants. When you’re writing your PS, make sure you REALLY dive deep into your experiences + interests; instead of repeating your long list of work/volunteer experience from your resume, say what you did and HOW that will prepare you be a successful intern at that program. They aren’t looking to see that you worked at 10 different hospitals for 2 weeks, they want to see how you can transfer the in depth skills, knowledge, and experience you gained from *said* experience to their dietetic internship. They will see your long list of experiences in your resume anyways!
Also, discuss how that program will help you achieve YOUR UNIQUE LONG TERM GOALS. This is when you look at that program’s mission statement and concentration. For example, my long term goal as a RDN is to deliver valuable, evidence-based information as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, while maintaining transparency with my audience on AHTK. In my Loyola app, I explained how their values of self-driven learning and professional education would help me reach my personal long term goal.
While we are talking about PS, I would like to say that I DID talk about my weakness as an applicant. I briefly addressed it and added a positive twist to it. For example, I talked about my lack of clinical experience but said that I’m excited to build on my admittedly incomplete clinical experience in a program that [include a quality of that program that relates to your interests/ viewpoints].
** AGAIN – this was what worked for me. If you’re concerned about your personal statement, I HIGHLY recommend talking to your advisor!! 🙂 **
Tip 3: START EARLY
RIGHT NOW. JK. Maybe… But I recommend starting ASAP because I did the exact opposite. I didn’t crack open my laptop until winter break – right around New Years – and wish I started earlier. I HIGHLY recommend starting early because there are quite a few time sensitive obstacles in the application that I wasn’t aware of. This includes: letters of recs, submitting your transcript(s), writing your PS, and tying up loose ends. I wasn’t aware that I had to send in my UW-Milwaukee transcript ( I took only one class, online stats ) and was scrambling to get my transcript and mail it to DICAS.
Because I had a good idea of what kind of program I was interested in, I didn’t find it difficult to pick which programs I wanted to apply to. I looked at the Applicant Guide to Supervised Practice 2018-2019 handbook provided by my school ( I believe it was from the Department of Nutrition University of California, Davis ) with the list of ALL dietetic internship programs along with the GPA average, concentrations, and more. BTW – this list is VERY long. I highly recommend utilizing the classic “command find” to search key words.
Tip 4: Find A support System
I found my support system to be VERY helpful throughout the application process. My parents read over my personal statements ( probably 10x too many 🤣 ). On match day, my parents drove up to Madison to have dinner with me and comfort me OR celly with me at 6:00 on the dot.
In addition to my parents being the BEST people on Earth for tolerating my mental instability ( kidding, not kidding ), I also followed the All Access Internship Instagram account, and joined the All Access Internship email list & Facebook group. I COULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS ENOUGH !! They share SO many tips on Instagram and via email and provide a community of applicants who were in the same boat as me. Misery loves company??? 😉 I posted questions multiple times in the AAI Facebook group and received answers within minutes. The AAI FB group is also a great resource if you’re looking for distance programs or advice for applying to the second round.
Another tip is to reach out to DICAS. I called DICAS at least 3x and they were VERY helpful. By directly asking DICAS your questions, you eliminate SO MANY emails and texts to advisors and peers who may not have an answer for you. My parents joked that those on the DICAS phone line would recognize my voice because I called so much! Don’t be afraid to reach out to DICAS, your advisors, your peers, or AAI with questions or concerns. At the end of the day, they all want you to be successful and complete your application to the best of your ability.
Tip 5: Prepare for you Interview
I’ll be honest, my interview process was probably the least stressful part of the whole process. I only had one interview and it was through video call. As mentioned earlier, my Loyola interview should have been in person, but I was out of town on vacation and they were very accommodating for my situation. I knew there was a chance that interviews would be held over my spring break, so I planned a vacation with my parents so I could be more flexible.
I can’t provide much advice for interviews that are more focused on MNT because that wasn’t what my interview was focused on. If you are looking at programs that focus on clinical work, you will likely have those questions. My interview was more personal and more of a “get to know you”. What REALLY helped prepare me was googling “common dietetic interview questions” prior to the interview and looking though all the questions and seeing what the common questions were. I found it helpful to add my unique angle to answering the question instead of stating a very generic answer. Another tip is to prepare for the questions with your resume. I annotated the crap out of my resume with a red pen; I wrote how *said* experience shaped me to be a competitive applicant and is preparing me to reach my long term goals as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. THIS website specifically was the one I looked at to prepare for my interview.
My Match Moment
HAH !! My match moment was QUITE 👏🏻 THE 👏🏻 SCENE…
Honestly, I was pretty relaxed until about 4:00. My parents drove up from the ‘burbs of Chicago to meet me in Madison for dinner + drinks. We met at a seafood restaurant near the Capitol at 5:30, a half hour before the DREADED match time.
*DUN, DUN, DUNNN…*
My parents greeted me at the bar with a glass of rosé. I honestly I felt pretty numb at this point. I did have a good mindset – what is meant to be is meant to be – but it’s still extremely difficult to stay sane when there is only a HALF HOUR until I see IF and WHERE I match !!
I logged into D&D Digital ahead of time and refreshed the “match” page to make sure that I was logged in and just in case they released our results earlier than 6:00. SPOILER ALERT – they didn’t!
There were 5 minutes ’til 6:00 and my parents told me to stop refreshing the “match” page on my phone, flip my phone over, and have a conversation with them to pass the time. We tried get lost in conversation, but in reality we were LITERALLY sitting at the edge of our bar stools. All of the sudden, my favorite song – “Garota de Ipanema” (“The Girl from Ipanema”) – started playing at the bar.
( You know you’re too old for college when your fave song is The Girl from Ipanema ?? )
What REALLY stood out to me was that the song played a few songs ago… Trust me, I would know. This song is my JAM !! My dad knows my love for Bossa Nova and he said, “HELL, ITS A SIGN! Let’s refresh that page!!”
I refreshed my phone and started BAWLING. EXPLOSIVE TEARS. Kim K’s infamous crying face had NOTHING on me. I’m not an emo person, so my mom though that I didn’t get matched… Then she looked at my phone and her and my dad started cheering!!
Just imagine what the bartender was thinking at this time??
Terr then went all Mary Poppins and whipped out my dad’s Loyola hat, scarf, & pom pom out of her bag! She knew I ranked Loyola as my #1 and because I had an interview, there would be a good chance that I match with Loyola. ( They interview ~20 applicants and take ~10. )
This was very a special moment to share with my dad because he went to Loyola University as an undergrad. That didn’t influence my decision in applying or ranking, but it felt SO special for him to be there with me. Everyone else in the Gorski family went to a B1G school, so it’s very exciting to connect the dots in our schools!
The bartender slid over three grapefruit shots to my parents and me after witnessing my little Kim K moment. I took down the shot like it was NBD – mother was HORRIFIED, but I guess that’s what happens when your daughter goes to school in Wisconsin – then Facetimed my friend, Jackie, who also is a student at UW-Madison who matched at Loyola’s DI + Masters program !!
WHATTA SUNDAY?!!
Q & A
1. What are some easy resume fillers?
First, they want to see that you have some experience in the the 3 major rotations: clinical, food service, and community nutrition. I don’t have experience in clinical ( as noted earlier ), but I did mention in my personal statement how my experience working in a private practice ( F-Factor ) would prepare me for the clinical rotation. My food service experience comes from my work as a Nutrition Assistant at the Badger Alley Bistro in Camp Randall ( the badger football stadium ).
Aside from discussing my experience in those areas, I found it beneficial to get experience in what I’m interested in and what would help me reach my long term goals – social media and blogging! For example, I was in charge of the Badger Alley Bistro’s social media accounts. After I noted my tasks as a Nutrition Assistant on my resume, I added a bullet about managing the social media accounts. Also, at the end of my resume under “Additional”, I mentioned how I enjoy exploring Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom and developing recipes. My personal statement was all about intersecting my passion for nutrition and social media and it was clear in my resume how I actively pursued those two. ALSO – there are many work experiences that aren’t necessarily in the dietetics field, but that could have provided you with skills and experience that will prepare you to be a DI intern – like being a hostess and developing interpersonal skills!
I encourage you to gain experience that would prepare you for your DI rotations AND to include experience in an area of your interest – especially if it relates to nutrition and dietetics. Many programs are seeing about 100 resumes so adding your unique experiences and interests on your resume will help you stand out.
*AGAIN, this is what worked for me! My interests aren’t necessarily within the lines of traditional dietetics so it was a pretty gutsy move. The content that would be on your resume should also relate to your program at come capacity. I didn’t apply to any programs that had a huge focus on clinical work because that was NOT on my resume! If you aren’t sure where to go or need some extra input, I highly recommend talking to your advisor!
2. How many experience hours & volunteer hours are considered competitive?
This is tricky because this is so situational. In most cases, they want to see more depth than breadth. There isn’t a magic number of hours at all, it’s ALL about what skills, experience, and knowledge you refined or gained during your work and volunteer experience. Ask yourself – Did you develop experience and skills that will prepare you to be successful during your internship or to reach your long term goals as a RDN?
3. Did you take the GRE?
I did not! I knew that I didn’t want to apply to pursue a masters with my DI. I applied to Dominican’s program which did include a masters ( MBA ), but they didn’t require me to take the GRE because my GPA was above a certain number.
WHEW.
I felt like we discussed SO MUCH, but there is always more to cover! If you have any questions about my experience applying to the DI, feel free to shoot me an email! I found it very helpful talking to others who have gone through the process.
ALSO – remember that this is my experience. I am SO happy that I matched with Loyola in the first round, but the whole process wasn’t a walk in the park. Everyone has their own unique journey. If you don’t match the first round or don’t get your top choice, IT IS OKAY! Everything happens for a reason. Stay resilient. It’s those *VERY shitty in the moment* obstacles and challenges that make us stronger and show how truly passionate we are in pursuing our DREAM of becoming a RDN.
In the wise words of Theodore Roosevelt,
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
xx hails