The SEU Dietetic Internship offers two application options: Pre-select for those enrolled in the BS/DPD option at Saint Elizabeth University who elect to apply through this option and General Application for all other applicants.

General Admission Procedures

Applicants to the combined Masters in Nutrition/Dietetic Internship (MS/DI) must follow the procedures described in the application process.

The program has two steps to the application process. Applicants must participate in the:

• Dietetic Internship Centralized Application Service (DICAS)
• D&D Digital processes, including meeting all DICAS and D&D Digital deadlines. Applicants are responsible for fees paid directly to DICAS and D&D as well as for the SEU MS/DI application fee.

Applicants are not required to complete additional University application components. The MS/DI application process is separate from other graduate program admissions. The GREs are not required.

Applicants are responsible for meeting all application deadlines. Students accepting pre-select or matched appointments to the program will be expected to complete a modified graduate application and provide original transcripts and an original DPD verification statement before beginning the program.

SEU Pre-Select Applicants

Only available to Saint Elizabeth University’s Current Foods and Nutrition Students

The Pre-select MS/DI at the university provides pre-select admission to the MS/DI program for students enrolled in the SEU DPD program. Students accepted into this option complete the master’s in nutrition and the dietetic internship program over two years after completion of the BS degree and DPD Verification coursework. Upon completion of the MS/DI, the student receives a Master of Science Degree in Nutrition and receives a DI Verification of Program Completion allowing the student to sit for the National Examination for Registered Dietitians/Nutritionists (RD/RDN).

The program offers two concentrations: Entrepreneurial Nutrition Practice (ENP) or Community and Public Health Nutrition (CPHN). Students qualified to apply for the pre-select option must select one of the two concentrations at the time of application and indicate that choice in the letter of application. Both ENP and CPHN concentrations begin in August/Fall semester.

Up to six (6) of the eighteen (18) ENP positions and up to six (6) of the eighteen (18) CPHN positions may be filled using the pre-select option. Applicants apply at the beginning of the senior year and are expected to have a 3.0 overall GPA (based on academic transcripts all schools attended for undergraduate and/or graduate coursework) and a 3.5 GPA in the DPD courses at the time of application.

Students wishing to apply through this option should contact the Dietetic Internship Director between August 1 and September 1 for application forms and instructions.

Application materials will be due on September 15. No late or incomplete applications will be accepted.

Qualified applicants will be required to provide:

• Intent to Complete Form from DPD Director
• Application form (obtained from DI Director)
• Recommendation (from outside SEU, using form provided)
• Letter of application (indicating choice of concentration and reason for interest)
• Resume
• Interview

A committee of Foods and Nutrition faculty will review and score the pre-select applications and decide by October 1. Applicants accepted will be required to confirm acceptance by October 15. Acceptance is provisional and will require maintenance of at least a 3.2 DPD GPA, and that the student earn a DPD Verification, and model professional integrity and the Academy’s Code of Ethics. A description of professional integrity is published in the Foods and Nutrition Program and University Student Handbooks available on the SEU Website. Students not able to meet the pre-select requirements during the senior year will forfeit her/his slot in the MS/DI.

To apply through to the MS/DI pre-select option students must have:

• Completed the prerequisites to the MS in Nutrition program including; Human Physiology, (or Anatomy and Physiology I and II), Introductory and Organic Chemistry, Nutritional Biochemistry I and II and Statistics
• Must have a 3.0 overall GPA at the time of application, 3.5 GPA in the DPD coursework
• If accepted, maintain at least a 3.2 GPA in the DPD requirements through senior year

Please note, the pre-select option is not an automatic acceptance. Applicants will be scored on the following criteria:

• Overall GPA
• DPD GPA
• Recommendation (from non-SEU source, either work or volunteer)
• Letter of application
• Work/volunteer experiences
• Interview

Students confirming acceptance into the MS/DI will not be eligible to apply to other programs using the Dietetic Internship Centralized Application System (DICAS) or national computer matching through D&D Digital. In addition, the student must remove him/herself from other application processes for similar programs that do not participate in DICAS or D&D. Applicants who violate these terms of acceptance will automatically revoke their admission to the SEU MS/DI.

After evaluation of the application, an applicant who is not accepted through the pre-select option is advised to contact the DI Program Director to discuss options and findings of the pre-select committee. In most cases, the applicant will be advised to apply through the traditional matching process and will be given direction to improve her application.

M.S. in Nutrition

Individuals applying to the dietetic internship are also applying to the SEU Masters in Nutrition as the program is a combined MS/DI. GRE’s are not required. Because the coursework is online, many international students are not eligible to participate. International applicants are responsible for understanding these requirements.

Students matched to the program will be expected to matriculate into the MS in Nutrition and complete 20 credits of coursework on-line in addition to 18 credits of Dietetic Internship specific coursework and supervised practice.

Upon completion of the MS/DI the intern will receive both a master’s in nutrition and Verification of Program Completion and are eligible to participate in the university’s graduation program. Successful completion of the MS/DI establishes eligibility to sit for the National Registration Examination for Dietitians.

Program Position and Concentrations

The combined SEU MS/DI program has 36 positions.

• Eighteen (18) positions in the Entrepreneurial Nutrition Practice Concentration with D&D match code 418 for the April Match.
• Eighteen (18) with the D&D match code of 134 for the Community and Public Health Nutrition Concentration for the April Match.
• Unfilled slots will be filled based on rank order from the program selection process.

Up to 12 of these 36 positions may be filled through the Saint Elizabeth University pre-select option available only to SEU students. Students applying from the general application pool are encouraged to ask the number of available positions after October 15 when the pre-select option is completed.

The MS/DI has a concentration in Entrepreneurial Nutrition Practice and one in Community and Public Health Nutrition. Both concentrations start in August/Fall semester.

Students may apply to one or both concentrations. If matched, the student is obligated to participate in the concentration to which the student was matched. Changing concentrations is not an option during the program.

In the event the program does not fill during first round match, it will participate in the second round match.

GPA Requirement

Applicants with an overall 3.0/4.0 GPA who also follow all application instructions and meet all application deadlines will be offered an interview. Applicants with lower than a 3.0 overall GPA are not likely to be offered an interview or acceptance into the program.

Bachelor’s Degree and DPD Verification

All students matched to the MS/DI must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. regionally accredited college or university or foreign equivalent and a Verification Statement from a Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD), meeting requirements of the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics.

At the time of application, students who have not completed the educational requirements provide an Intent to Complete on DICAS through the DPD Director at their institutions. Applicants must successfully complete a bachelor’s degree and DPD Verification prior to the program’s start date. Applicants matched to the program must provide an official transcript with degree noted and DPD Verification Statement prior to the program's start date.