Five Ways to get STRONG Letters of Recommendation

Yes, we really read your letters, and they are an important consideration for offering interviews.  For my program, the letters make up approximately 10% of the points allotted to an applicants in application review.  Brief and non-specific letters hurt your application.  A negative letter is likely to keep you off the "match list" everywhere you apply.  What can you do to maximize you chance of getting a good letter?

1.  Understand that a strong letter is written by a supervisor, professor or mentor you have a ongoing positive relationship with.

Asking people you don't really know to write letters of reference may result in a one liner or a negative letter.  Your best outcome is a mediocre form letter (which may have another applicant's name in it. Yes, that happens!).  These letters don't represent who you are and suggest that you don't have people skills and/or commitment to the field.  Start building strong relationships now!  Here are some tips:

• Sign up for your local professional organization as student member (do this now) and inquire about becoming the student representative.  Volunteer for events.  This will allow you to build relationships with other professionals in your area and allows you to hear about job/internship opportunities sooner.
• Volunteer to help with research for a professor that has ongoing projects.  Treat this opportunity like a paid job.  If you are volunteering consistently, ask if the professor will help you submit an abstract to a local or national conference.  This will help build your relationship and give you strong resume-building material.
• Go to office hours early in the semester prepared with specific questions.  Notice pictures and objects in the professor's office and try to build conversation from that
• At the end of the semester, give your professor a hand-written thank you card.  Some students give thoughtful, inexpensive gifts.
• E.g. one time I took students to a National Archives history of nutrition exhibit and, after the semester was over, a student got me the book accompanying the exhibit with a thank you card.  It was thoughtful, and I still remember the student even 5 years later.  
• Timing is important.  Don't give the thank you before you have your grade; you want the professor to feel that your gesture is sincere.  Gifts are unnecessary and potentially prohibited (the department administrator will know if the professor is allowed to take a small gift).  If you chose to give one, don't spend more than $10 or so. 
• Volunteer or get a job at the local hospital working with the dietitian.  Be punctual, consistent, friendly, and gracious at all times.  Smile and treat this opportunity like a paid job.  
• Meet with your academic adviser once a semester and come to the meeting prepared with the courses you think you need to take next semester.  Be punctual, friendly and gracious at all times.  Don't ask for tons of petitions and other paperwork-heavy favors.  Listen to her advice.  Pick her brain about your best career path and resume-building opportunities.  

2.  Ask the potential referee if they can write a positive or strong letter for you.

You don't just want a letter.  You want a great letter.  If you know the person well, and she is friendly and candid, you may not need to ask this.  If the person is very formal all the time or doesn't disclose a lot of feelings, you really don't know how they feel about you.  I have received letters for applicants that are neutral or negative from supervisors the applicant has worked with for years.   

• I like to receive requests in email.  I don't like to be put on the spot in person.  You don't want someone writing a letter for you if they aren't excited to do it.  Asking through email makes it easier for someone to say no tactfully.  I have told inquiring students that I don't know them well enough, etc. 
• If the person doesn't get back to you, move on.  You want a timely, enthusiastic letter from someone who likes you.

3.  Give your letter writer ample time.

Two weeks is a bare minimum amount of time to write a letter; asking 2 months in advance is more appropriate.

4.  Take initiative and improve the content of your letter.

Professors and work managers are busy people, so you may help them write a strong letter for you.   After your referee has agreed to write you a strong letter, respond back with bullets detailing the specific projects or tasks that you did together and tie it to the opportunity you are pursuing. 

• Sample bullet: “In your Community nutrition class, I received an A on a presentation I gave about motivational interviewing in Spanish-speaking communities. All of the internships I am applying to have a community emphasis and include rotations through sites serving significant numbers of Spanish-speaking patients. I am also fluent in Spanish.” A bullet like this gives a professor substantive content to add to the letter than she will not be able to write without your help.

That said, tread lightly in area of providing content for your letters.  Some people would be receptive to you drafting the whole letter and some people could be offended by providing the bullets.  When in doubt, ask the referee whether or not they would like you to compile the content.  Most people are very grateful for bullets because it makes the process easier, especially if they are trying to write letters for many applicants.

5.  Pick a consistent theme for the type of internships you apply to.

If there is some similarity to all the programs you are applying to, for example all MS/DI or all program with a research emphasis, then referees have more grounds to write impressive letters.  Make it clear what type of program you're applying to somewhere in the bullets (see #4)

• e.g. letter text that is possible when you tell referees what type of programs you are applying to “APPLICANT is excited to start a combined Master of Science/Dietitian Internship in the Fall. Given her experience in data collection and analysis she performed on my research, I am confident she will be successful in graduate school.” 

This kind of content lets the admissions team know that you have a serious interest in graduate school & their program and took steps to prepare yourself for it. 

Five Tips for Matching to a Dietetic Internship Next Time

I am a Dietetic Internship Director, and it's really tough to see great applicants struggle to find internship slots.  I have started this blog to help give all applicants guidance to help them prepare to apply for Dietetic Internships and offer advice on professional issues in the field. This content is written for dietetics students, but some content is relevant for many professions.  The content on this site represents my opinions and each Program Director may have different views.  Be sure to build a relationship with the organization you wish to apply to for guidance.

1.  Avoid second round during the next application round--choose carefully in the     first round and be willing to travel

• Second round is more competitive than the first round; don’t feel bad if you didn’t get a slot in second round. Focus on improving your application for the next cycle.
• Programs that pay interns, are in ideal locations, or have exceptional reputations are more difficult to match to and require high marks across the board
• If you are willing to go to a seemingly less appealing location or a brand new program, you are much more likely to be considered and placed on the match list
• Choose programs that align with your strengths and experiences. This will allow you to write a convincing personal statement establishing fit to the specific program

2.  Make contact with the program/program director early, at least 6 months before you plan to put in your application. Program directors tend to have more time for individual inquiries over the summer. April/May is a terrible time to contact them, so wait until after June

• Every student we’ve accepted who had a low GPA or GRE got to know us well before the applications were due 
• Be respectful of program director, preceptor, and faculty time. Come to open houses and meetings with good questions prepared and take notes at appropriate times.

3.  Take the NDTR exam

• As DPD graduates, you are all eligible to sit for the DTR/NDTR exam. Becoming an NDTR will help you find a nutrition-related in the job in the gap year(s), which you can highlight on your next application
• Program directors are evaluated based on their RD exam pass rate. Pass rate is highly dependent on the test taking ability and study skills of students, so demonstrate your ability to pass a similar test by taking and passing the NDTR.

4.  Get nutrition-related work experience

• Do this even if it pays less than other options. The strongest applicants who are applying for the second, third, or forth time have a wealth of nutrition-related job experience, which enhances the diversity of the DI program and brings real world discussion to the classroom 
• You will form relationships with nutrition professionals who can speak to your career potential in a recommendation letter, which puts you of ahead of recent graduates who may look stronger academically
• If you can’t get a nutrition job, choose another healthcare job. I have accepted pharmacy technicians and nursing assistants.

5.  Study for & take the GRE, even if you don’t intend to apply to graduate school right away

• Program directors are evaluated based on their graduate’s pass rate. Performing well on the GRE shows you can take tests effectively and some research shows that GRE scores correlate to pass rates on the RD exam 
• If you are coming from a DPD program that is unfamiliar to the admissions committee, then doing well on the GRE is a way to compare you directly to students we know are coming from strong programs 
• Scores in the 50th percentile and higher in all categories are pretty good for our field, this is roughly a 152 on verbal & quantitative and a 4 on writing.
• Don't take the exam until you feel you could score pretty well, weak scores will not enhance your application.