So, you want to be a Dietitian.
I remember being in your shoes. The DICAS application is a monster; it's scary, it's confusing, it's really really mean. Then you submit it and wait a few months to figure out if you have a future or not. What kind of sick joke is that..?
Anyways, I'm here to help.
1. Keep track of which sections are completely finished. When I was applying, I wasted so much time reading and re-reading every section. I think most dietitians-in-training are also anal about everything, so reading about myself all the time was giving me anxiety. Finish it, check it off your list, and don't go back.
2. Be personal in your personal statement. You all completed an accredited program, you were all in your school's nutrition club, and you all volunteer. It's good to include it briefly, but think of what makes you special. For example, I have a degree in culinary arts and have worked with diverse communities teaching people how to cook healthfully (future JWU grads, this is you and dietetic programs love us). Other possible examples; you developed a community program, you have teaching experience, you created a club at your school and took a leadership position, etc.
3. Cater your personal statement to the school you are applying to. On my flight back to Chicago from FNCE, a woman sitting next to me pulled my earbud out of my ear and asked if I was a dietetic intern. "Yes..." She ended up being a member of the selection committee for the VA hospital in Chicago. Her biggest complaint about new applicants were the personal statements, "If you write that you love working in the community and you're applying to a clinical internship, it makes me [the director] think you don't care." Be smart. She also said, even if you don't necessarily want to work in the clinical aspect, lie and say you do if the program focuses on clinical. My recommendation: have one general personal statement, and change a paragraph or two to emphasis what you like about the program you're applying to.
4. Have someone read your personal statement. Parents, siblings, and significant others are great. Classmates are not great. Your family loves you. They think you're amazing and they'll tell you why you are. That's what schools want to hear (how amazing you are).
5. Be honest and sell yourself. You may think you're under-qualified and never going to get your number one choice. Don't be silly. You've done more than you think.
6. Think outside the box. Your future internship wants you to be focused, diversified, ambitious, tested, amazing with time management, confident, blah blah blah. There are things you probably do daily that prove that you're all of these things.
Focused: you know what you want (whats your five year plan and 10 year plan), did you start a study group
Diversified: what communities have you worked with, where are you from, what are your current classmates like
Ambitious: did you start a club, did you take extra responsibilities on class projects or at work
Tested: think of a time when school/work/friendship was testing your confidence (how did you persevere)
Time management: you work and go to school simultaneously, think of a time when you had multiple deadlines (how did you react)
7. GRE scores. If you're applying to a combined MS/DI program you will need GRE scores. START STUDYING AND TAKING THE TEST EARLY! You want at least above the 50th percentile. A lot of schools won't say it as straight forward as that, but above the 50th percentile is necessary. Also, if you have to, take the exam more than once. Schools will look at this one of two ways: 1) good, they wanted to improve and they were able to, or 2) bad, they needed to take it more than once. It will most likely be the former. But, look at it this way--if the school won't accept you because you didn't score high enough, wouldn't you at least want to give yourself a chance of scoring above the 50th and being selected?
2. Be personal in your personal statement. You all completed an accredited program, you were all in your school's nutrition club, and you all volunteer. It's good to include it briefly, but think of what makes you special. For example, I have a degree in culinary arts and have worked with diverse communities teaching people how to cook healthfully (future JWU grads, this is you and dietetic programs love us). Other possible examples; you developed a community program, you have teaching experience, you created a club at your school and took a leadership position, etc.
3. Cater your personal statement to the school you are applying to. On my flight back to Chicago from FNCE, a woman sitting next to me pulled my earbud out of my ear and asked if I was a dietetic intern. "Yes..." She ended up being a member of the selection committee for the VA hospital in Chicago. Her biggest complaint about new applicants were the personal statements, "If you write that you love working in the community and you're applying to a clinical internship, it makes me [the director] think you don't care." Be smart. She also said, even if you don't necessarily want to work in the clinical aspect, lie and say you do if the program focuses on clinical. My recommendation: have one general personal statement, and change a paragraph or two to emphasis what you like about the program you're applying to.
4. Have someone read your personal statement. Parents, siblings, and significant others are great. Classmates are not great. Your family loves you. They think you're amazing and they'll tell you why you are. That's what schools want to hear (how amazing you are).
5. Be honest and sell yourself. You may think you're under-qualified and never going to get your number one choice. Don't be silly. You've done more than you think.
6. Think outside the box. Your future internship wants you to be focused, diversified, ambitious, tested, amazing with time management, confident, blah blah blah. There are things you probably do daily that prove that you're all of these things.
Focused: you know what you want (whats your five year plan and 10 year plan), did you start a study group
Diversified: what communities have you worked with, where are you from, what are your current classmates like
Ambitious: did you start a club, did you take extra responsibilities on class projects or at work
Tested: think of a time when school/work/friendship was testing your confidence (how did you persevere)
Time management: you work and go to school simultaneously, think of a time when you had multiple deadlines (how did you react)
7. GRE scores. If you're applying to a combined MS/DI program you will need GRE scores. START STUDYING AND TAKING THE TEST EARLY! You want at least above the 50th percentile. A lot of schools won't say it as straight forward as that, but above the 50th percentile is necessary. Also, if you have to, take the exam more than once. Schools will look at this one of two ways: 1) good, they wanted to improve and they were able to, or 2) bad, they needed to take it more than once. It will most likely be the former. But, look at it this way--if the school won't accept you because you didn't score high enough, wouldn't you at least want to give yourself a chance of scoring above the 50th and being selected?