The DI Application Process

Acceptance into dietetics internships is very competitive, with the recent national acceptance rate at about 61 percent. The acceptance rate for UMass graduates who applied to dietetic internships has been over 80 percent of graduates who apply for the past three years. While at UMass, students in the didactic program in dietetics (DPD) are given guidance on how to work through the process of applying to a dietetic internship. Here is a brief summary of the process.

Internship applications are typically submitted online to an application agency (DICAS). Application deadlines are in mid-February for programs beginning in the summer or fall, or September for January start dates. Programs that offer graduate degrees may differ. For the Spring application cycle (when most of our students apply), the didactic program director holds several meetings to explain the application process in detail. Students may apply to as many programs as they choose. Selection is done largely by computer matching through an online matching agency, D&D Digital (again, graduate programs may differ). Students register with D&D Digital in order to participate in the computer matching process, in which students rank the internships to which they are applying in order of preference. Around the middle of April, applicants will receive notification of if and where they have been matched. Students can only be matched with one program. Acceptance of the position is required by a specified date. Because of the competitive nature of DI applications, it is strongly recommended that students obtain nutrition-related experience through extracurricular activities and work and volunteer experiences. It is also recommended that students have at least a 3.0 GPA in order to apply for a DI.