Dear Friends,
The following is my letter to Mount Mary College... the internship I really want. It is very important that this letter is awesome, so I want as many people to look it over and give their opinions as possible. I am including the requirements from Mount Mary's Website: "A two- to three-page letter of application describing your interest and experience in the field of dietetics, goals and aspirations, reasons for pursuing graduate study, and other factors that may be helpful with the selection process. The letter should demonstrate writing competencies appropriate for graduate level work."
It is not 3 whole pages, it's 2 pages plus like five lines. So if I need to expand it, I can, and I should. This is a rough draft so be as hard on me as you want... I need all the help and input I can get!
THANK YOU!!!
Dear Ms. Stark and Selection Committee:
Currently I am a senior dietetics student at Central Michigan University and am interested in applying to the dietetic internship at Mount Mary College. I believe that this program will be the best fit for me because of the emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion. My interest in dietetics began when my father was diagnosed with diabetes during my freshman year in high school. After his diagnosis I was interested in how he was able to control his disease by simply changing the way that he ate. It is my opinion that a person’s health can be greatly impacted by nutrition and I want to teach patients how they can prevent disease or improve their conditions by changing their nutrition. The dietetic internship at Mount Mary College will help me to meet my short term goal of obtaining an entry level position as a clinical dietitian in a hospital through the experiences that are offered in medical nutrition therapy and promoting wellness.
Mount Mary’s dietetic internship is also a good match for me because of the eighteen graduate credits offered during the internship and the option to complete a master’s degree with a concentration in counseling. My long term goal is to complete my master’s degree and to later go on to open my own outpatient facility to help eating disordered patients. I have been interested in psychology and counseling since high school when I would be the mentor that my friends came to when they had problems. I had a few friends in high school that struggled with disordered eating and I have wanted to help patients with eating disorders ever since. The hours that I have spent following a dietitian on the eating disorders floor at Beaumont Hospital and the classes that I have taken at Central Michigan University have prepared me for what working with those patients is like and I have a great passion for working with eating disordered patients. The masters in dietetics with a concentration in counseling from Mount Mary College will strengthen my skills and enable me to work better with eating disordered patients. It will also help me to meet my long term goal of opening my own private practice to help patients that have eating disorders.
The field of dietetics combines four of my passions: people, food, education and counseling. I have had great experiences working with people since my first job at age fifteen. Every job that I have held since then has involved providing excellent customer services, interacting with clients and helping to find solutions when there are problems. All of these experiences have given me strengths in personal communication that I will bring to the dietetic internship at Mount Mary College and to the dietetic profession. My volunteer experience at Beaumont Hospital has helped me to understand how to create interesting and informative presentations that are audience appropriate, which will be useful when I am working in the dietetics profession with all different groups of people. The leadership roles that I have held in student organizations and at Anderson Music Company have helped me to learn how to stay organized and how to listen to others. These skills will be helpful to me in the dietetics field because I can utilize them when counseling and educating patients.
Overall, I believe that I would be a successful candidate for the dietetic internship at Mount Mary College because I have excellent personal communication skills and I have a passion for sharing my knowledge of nutrition and dietetics with fellow interns, patients, and peers. I also believe that the master’s in dietetics with a concentration in counseling from Mount Mary College would help me to obtain my long term goal of opening a private practice to help eating disordered patients. The program curriculum at Mount Mary College will give me a great overview of what I will need to practice as a dietitian as well as allow me to focus on my true passions; counseling, disease prevention and health promotion. Enclosed please find a copy of my ADA application form, resume, three professional references, my official transcripts from all schools attended, and my intent to complete form. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions regarding my application.
Sincerely,
Megan Smith
Monday, November 16, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
More About Mount Mary
I shouldn't be getting myself hyped the way I am, but I am.
I kind of found Mount Mary College on a whim... and the more I learn about it, the more it is becoming exactly what I want in an internship/grad program.
I finally found on their website what the actual dietetic internship entails. According to their website...
- 32-40 hours per week will be spent in supervised practice (aka hospital, WIC, nursing home, etc), typically 8am-4:30pm
- 6 hours per week in DI classes on campus or on field trips
- DTS 601 & 603 are biweekly
- Classes are usualy Mondays or Fridays 9am-3pm
- Get a Monday or Friday of about once a month (yay long weekends!)
- Graduate classes in the evening and/or on Saturday, once or twice per week
SUPERVISED PRACTICE FALL SEMESTER
- DTS 601 - Principles of Dietetic Practice (2 credits)
- Three weeks of orientation to the management and community rotations
- Conducting community based interventions
- DTS 602 - Dietetic Practice I: Management and Community (3 credits)
- Eight weeks at one management site
- Four to five weeks at one community site
- Zero to one week at elective
- Biweekly seminars on campus
SUPERVISED PRACTICE SPRING SEMESTER
- DTS 603 - Principles of Dietetic Practice II (2 credits)
- One week orientation to medical nutrition therapy rotation
- Conducting community based interventions
- DTS 604 - Dietetic Practice II: Management & Elective (3 credits)
- 14-15 weeks of medical nutrition therapy
- 4-5 weeks at one community site
- 0-1 week at elective
- Biweekly seminars on campus
Some of the rotation sites that I am very interested in are the V.A. hospital, the school districts, and the Rogers Memorial Hospital Residential Eating Disorders Program. I would get to do the E.D. center during the community rotation, so 4-5 weeks. OMG. Amazing.
And did I mention that they offer the masters in counseling???
I looked into rent also... it's about $520 a month if I want to have my kitty with me. It'll actually be more with pet rent but I think it's only $20 per month and $100 deposit for my cat. Definitely worth it to have her come with me!!
Ken and I talked more about it and he is more and more comfortable every day. Like I've said, there is no way of knowing whether or not this can truly even happen. But he made the rationalization yesterday of "well, I'll probably have a lot of time off next year just like I have this year, and I can probably come visit for weeks at a time if I wanted to..." I really hope he will. I really hope I get this internship...
I was totally set on NOT getting an internship at all. Now I want this one. I think I need to go back to the mind set of I'm NOT getting an internship or else I might be disappointed... if I don't get an internship, Ken is hoping I will get the one at Beaumont Hospital. That would be a great internship, I know this... but this college is calling my name. I'm almost thinking of asking the internship director if I can still apply to the grad school if I don't make it into the internship... Ken would FLIP if I did that, but seriously this is like... EXACTLY what I want. I want to work with eating disorder patients or with addiction patients... and a masters in counseling would be PERFECT. What's even better about this deal is that I don't have to take all those pre requisite classes, like anywhere else. I would have to basically get a minor in psych or social work or something to start a masters in counseling elsewhere...
Speaking of which, that's what I should really look into next. I should look into finding a college that offers a masters in counseling and see what classes I would have to take to start a masters there if I don't get an internship and decide to wait for Beaumont Hospital.
I dunno... I'm really pulling for this one in Wisconsin. I'm gonna freak when it comes time to move there and be alone, I've never lived alone before. But I'm still excited... :)
I kind of found Mount Mary College on a whim... and the more I learn about it, the more it is becoming exactly what I want in an internship/grad program.
I finally found on their website what the actual dietetic internship entails. According to their website...
- 32-40 hours per week will be spent in supervised practice (aka hospital, WIC, nursing home, etc), typically 8am-4:30pm
- 6 hours per week in DI classes on campus or on field trips
- DTS 601 & 603 are biweekly
- Classes are usualy Mondays or Fridays 9am-3pm
- Get a Monday or Friday of about once a month (yay long weekends!)
- Graduate classes in the evening and/or on Saturday, once or twice per week
SUPERVISED PRACTICE FALL SEMESTER
- DTS 601 - Principles of Dietetic Practice (2 credits)
- Three weeks of orientation to the management and community rotations
- Conducting community based interventions
- DTS 602 - Dietetic Practice I: Management and Community (3 credits)
- Eight weeks at one management site
- Four to five weeks at one community site
- Zero to one week at elective
- Biweekly seminars on campus
SUPERVISED PRACTICE SPRING SEMESTER
- DTS 603 - Principles of Dietetic Practice II (2 credits)
- One week orientation to medical nutrition therapy rotation
- Conducting community based interventions
- DTS 604 - Dietetic Practice II: Management & Elective (3 credits)
- 14-15 weeks of medical nutrition therapy
- 4-5 weeks at one community site
- 0-1 week at elective
- Biweekly seminars on campus
Some of the rotation sites that I am very interested in are the V.A. hospital, the school districts, and the Rogers Memorial Hospital Residential Eating Disorders Program. I would get to do the E.D. center during the community rotation, so 4-5 weeks. OMG. Amazing.
And did I mention that they offer the masters in counseling???
I looked into rent also... it's about $520 a month if I want to have my kitty with me. It'll actually be more with pet rent but I think it's only $20 per month and $100 deposit for my cat. Definitely worth it to have her come with me!!
Ken and I talked more about it and he is more and more comfortable every day. Like I've said, there is no way of knowing whether or not this can truly even happen. But he made the rationalization yesterday of "well, I'll probably have a lot of time off next year just like I have this year, and I can probably come visit for weeks at a time if I wanted to..." I really hope he will. I really hope I get this internship...
I was totally set on NOT getting an internship at all. Now I want this one. I think I need to go back to the mind set of I'm NOT getting an internship or else I might be disappointed... if I don't get an internship, Ken is hoping I will get the one at Beaumont Hospital. That would be a great internship, I know this... but this college is calling my name. I'm almost thinking of asking the internship director if I can still apply to the grad school if I don't make it into the internship... Ken would FLIP if I did that, but seriously this is like... EXACTLY what I want. I want to work with eating disorder patients or with addiction patients... and a masters in counseling would be PERFECT. What's even better about this deal is that I don't have to take all those pre requisite classes, like anywhere else. I would have to basically get a minor in psych or social work or something to start a masters in counseling elsewhere...
Speaking of which, that's what I should really look into next. I should look into finding a college that offers a masters in counseling and see what classes I would have to take to start a masters there if I don't get an internship and decide to wait for Beaumont Hospital.
I dunno... I'm really pulling for this one in Wisconsin. I'm gonna freak when it comes time to move there and be alone, I've never lived alone before. But I'm still excited... :)
Monday, November 9, 2009
I Think I Found THE ONE
I've been looking into dietetic internships for the last two years, pretty much. I've always said my first choice would be CMU. Then I thought maybe U of M would be my first choice. Now I'm pretty positive what my first choice is... Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
And my boyfriend is NOT very pleased.
The dietetic internship at Mount Mary College offers 18 graduate credits, which is huge. That means I will be a full time grad student during my internship. That means I can get federal loans. They also offer graduate assistantships, which are very competitive and I'd be super lucky to get one. But that is there. The cost is a bit high but not much higher than other grad programs, and because it's a private college there is no out of state tuition. It is $540 per credit hour for dietetics. They have the option for you to complete your masters on a part time basis, which I am still unclear about what that means, but it's a great plus. The cost of living is comparable to Mount Pleasant - about $450 per month for rent in an apartment, about $700-800 a month for room & board on campus (includes a meal plan).
But the BIGGEST thing about this program that makes me just want to squeal and CERTAINLY makes me aspire to get it is their masters concentration of counseling. I want to pursue a masters degree in counseling or social work, and this is just perfect. I will get to take some classes while I am doing my internship - I can even do an eating disorders concentration.
I feel like I may have a strong application for this program. My GPA is not the greatest but... I do have leadership potential (something they look for), and I do have some work experience. My GPA isn't horrible, either. And I think my letter will be outstanding.
I can't WAIT to go visit on Friday and talk to the program director. I am practically peeing in my pants!!!
Oh and did I mention that currently there are only a handful of positions for dietitians in Michigan (the whole state) but there are a handful in Milwaukee alone?? Like, better job lookout...
The boyfriend issue though... that discussion will have to come later...
And my boyfriend is NOT very pleased.
The dietetic internship at Mount Mary College offers 18 graduate credits, which is huge. That means I will be a full time grad student during my internship. That means I can get federal loans. They also offer graduate assistantships, which are very competitive and I'd be super lucky to get one. But that is there. The cost is a bit high but not much higher than other grad programs, and because it's a private college there is no out of state tuition. It is $540 per credit hour for dietetics. They have the option for you to complete your masters on a part time basis, which I am still unclear about what that means, but it's a great plus. The cost of living is comparable to Mount Pleasant - about $450 per month for rent in an apartment, about $700-800 a month for room & board on campus (includes a meal plan).
But the BIGGEST thing about this program that makes me just want to squeal and CERTAINLY makes me aspire to get it is their masters concentration of counseling. I want to pursue a masters degree in counseling or social work, and this is just perfect. I will get to take some classes while I am doing my internship - I can even do an eating disorders concentration.
I feel like I may have a strong application for this program. My GPA is not the greatest but... I do have leadership potential (something they look for), and I do have some work experience. My GPA isn't horrible, either. And I think my letter will be outstanding.
I can't WAIT to go visit on Friday and talk to the program director. I am practically peeing in my pants!!!
Oh and did I mention that currently there are only a handful of positions for dietitians in Michigan (the whole state) but there are a handful in Milwaukee alone?? Like, better job lookout...
The boyfriend issue though... that discussion will have to come later...
Thursday, November 5, 2009
What to do with my life?
After the not so great meeting with my dietetics director, I have seriously thought about my future career and how to make myself unique. I don't have the strongest GPA, but I have a strong desire to get my masters and possibly my phD. My director told me that if I get the combination of RD/PhD I can basically teach wherever I want because it is so rare. I love teaching and I love counseling, I don't ever want to stop!
I have always thought of doing something with eating disorders, like opening my own eating disorders clinic or something like that. While in class talking about sleep issues and addiction to sleeping pills, I thought... maybe I would like to work in a drug rehab clinic. Celebrity Rehab came to mind... how cool would it be to work with Dr. Drew??? I don't even care about the celebrities I might treat... I just want to work with Dr. Drew!
My two career choices before this were education and psychology. In a way, dietetics isn't very far from either of those. You need to be a good teacher and a good counselor as a dietitian. It just adds in the science and nutrition that interests me.
So, that's me right now. Today I'm turning in my first draft of my letter of application. I already have thoughts on how I want to change it, ha... but that's why you do a first draft right?
I have always thought of doing something with eating disorders, like opening my own eating disorders clinic or something like that. While in class talking about sleep issues and addiction to sleeping pills, I thought... maybe I would like to work in a drug rehab clinic. Celebrity Rehab came to mind... how cool would it be to work with Dr. Drew??? I don't even care about the celebrities I might treat... I just want to work with Dr. Drew!
My two career choices before this were education and psychology. In a way, dietetics isn't very far from either of those. You need to be a good teacher and a good counselor as a dietitian. It just adds in the science and nutrition that interests me.
So, that's me right now. Today I'm turning in my first draft of my letter of application. I already have thoughts on how I want to change it, ha... but that's why you do a first draft right?
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A Bump in the Road
Today I met with the program director for the dietetics program. It was a very insightful meeting but unfortunately not in a good way. She suggested that I seriously consider not applying for internships in February.
I don't have a stellar GPA, but it is by no means horrible. The way my director put it is that my GPA is below the average GPA of students currently in the internships that I want to apply to. That means I will lose a lot of "points" in the GPA portion of the application and that I can't afford to lose points elsewhere. While I have a lot of hours of work experience, not all of my experience is related to dietetics and therefore not as high quality.
I won't make a decision about what to do until I attend all of the open houses I have planned to visit. I'll probably wait to see how I do on the GRE too... so no decisions will be made until the end of January. Which means I need to prepare great appications and be ready to apply in case I decide to go ahead and try. I think that I will ultimately decide to appy to internships this February, but... we'll see I guess.
I don't have a stellar GPA, but it is by no means horrible. The way my director put it is that my GPA is below the average GPA of students currently in the internships that I want to apply to. That means I will lose a lot of "points" in the GPA portion of the application and that I can't afford to lose points elsewhere. While I have a lot of hours of work experience, not all of my experience is related to dietetics and therefore not as high quality.
I won't make a decision about what to do until I attend all of the open houses I have planned to visit. I'll probably wait to see how I do on the GRE too... so no decisions will be made until the end of January. Which means I need to prepare great appications and be ready to apply in case I decide to go ahead and try. I think that I will ultimately decide to appy to internships this February, but... we'll see I guess.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Introduction
Hello fellow Bloggers.
I'm a devoted LiveJournal addict but decided I wanted to bring some blogging over here. I will still be on LJ for those of you who like to peek into my life a little deeper. This blog will strictly be for dietetics and my personal dieting related things.
That being said, after a presentation today I have decided I would like to try being a flexitarian. What exactly is a flexitarian? Well, in my humble opinion... a flexitarian is someone who eats a mostly vegetarian diet but occasionally dines on animal flesh from time to time. You know, like Thanksgiving. Who can resist a Thanksgiving turkey? Or when mom makes her famous meatloaf... seriously, I can't pass that up. And if my boyfriend decides he wants to be romantic and take me to a steakhouse, I'm not ordering a salad.
I was a vegetarian for almost a year in 2008. I never felt healthier or happier in my life. I was at a healthy weight and I had a lot of energy and love for life. It was difficult, though, to maintain the lifestyle for a long time. My family are meateaters and I was back in school where it is not very vegetarian friendly, even if they say they are. So, alas, it didn't work out.
But I think I can handle being a flexitarian. Let's see how I do...
I'm a devoted LiveJournal addict but decided I wanted to bring some blogging over here. I will still be on LJ for those of you who like to peek into my life a little deeper. This blog will strictly be for dietetics and my personal dieting related things.
That being said, after a presentation today I have decided I would like to try being a flexitarian. What exactly is a flexitarian? Well, in my humble opinion... a flexitarian is someone who eats a mostly vegetarian diet but occasionally dines on animal flesh from time to time. You know, like Thanksgiving. Who can resist a Thanksgiving turkey? Or when mom makes her famous meatloaf... seriously, I can't pass that up. And if my boyfriend decides he wants to be romantic and take me to a steakhouse, I'm not ordering a salad.
I was a vegetarian for almost a year in 2008. I never felt healthier or happier in my life. I was at a healthy weight and I had a lot of energy and love for life. It was difficult, though, to maintain the lifestyle for a long time. My family are meateaters and I was back in school where it is not very vegetarian friendly, even if they say they are. So, alas, it didn't work out.
But I think I can handle being a flexitarian. Let's see how I do...
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