Admission Policies

Cal Poly Pomona's Dietetic Internship Program (DI) is for applicants who have a Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) verification statement and master's degree or will complete a master's degree within no more than 12 months after completing supervised practice.

Students cannot complete the online master's degree in dietetics program offered by the College of Professional and Global Education concurrently with the dietetic internship program, but can apply to the internship if they will have completed their master's degree by the start of the internship.

Criteria

Successful applicants will have a minimum of:

• a master’s degree, or are expected to complete their master’s program within no more than 1 year of completing supervised practice
• a verification statement from an accredited program in dietetics
• a 3.0 overall grade point average and 3.0 in professional courses

Recency of Education

Applicants who have completed academic requirements more than five years before applying to the internship will need to document recency of education or experience on the Recency of Education Form (PDF) that is available on this website. This may be a combination of at least two years of dietetic-related work experience within the last five years and/or nine upper-division college or graduate-level courses in areas related to the dietetic profession.

Prior Experience

While we highly value work or volunteer experience in dietetics in our applicants, our internship does not waive practice hours for prior experience. Refer to the Policy to Waive Hours for Prior Learning. After reviewing the policy, contact the program director for questions.

Interviews

Interviews will be conducted on two days only at the end of February by a committee consisting of Cal Poly Pomona faculty, preceptors from participating hospitals, alumni, and interns.

The interview is a mandatory part of the selection process. We appreciate the opportunity to get to know the applicants to the program.  Please be flexible with regard to the interview. Interviews may be in person or via Zoom, at the dietetic internship director's discretion.

All applicants will be given fair consideration; however, some preference (10 out of 100 points) will be given to those students who have completed a minimum of 30 units at Cal Poly Pomona in the initial application review.  

Up to 15 full-time interns are accepted annually.

Interns who are matched to the program must apply to the university and will receive further information on university application procedures after acceptance. Interns are admitted into a post-baccalaureate certificate program. This category will still allow interns to apply for financial aid.

Materials of unsuccessful candidates will not be returned to the candidate.