FAQ

We no longer have a limit for admissions, but the applicant must meet minimum qualifications and meet the approval of all deciding faculty to show promise in the program.

Every person's situation is different and we examine applications as a whole against how many applicants we have. First, need to meet the minimum GPA requirement of a 3.0. After that, we look at your promise and passion through your statement of interest, letters of recommendation, GREs, and phone interview. We really encourage a campus visit if at all possible. Just because you do meet all the minimum qualifications does not guarantee admission.

Yes! We understand that not everyone is a great test taker and we have found that the GREs are not a good predictor of success in our program. We do not limit our acceptance to the GRE, nor do we use it as a "weeding out" tool although the minimum score of 290 is highly recommended and scores lower than this are viewed more unfavorably. The Writing Score of 4, however, is even more important as good writing is important in graduate school. If there's a tie between two students of similar background, then the GRE may be used as the decision making point. However, we do look at the holistic quality of your entire application.

While it is best to apply as early as possible, we understand the nature of your situation.  Due to the length of time it takes to review all our applicants, you would be best served to apply as soon as possible after the Match in the event you do not get an RD internship—our second deadline is shortly after that (April 15).  However, do know that those who meet the priority deadline will get priority of being evaluated first.  On the other hand, you can always apply by the priority deadline and then withdraw your application in the event you get an RD spot or, if still interested in our program, you can ask to be deferred to the following year after you complete your RD internship (without needing to apply again).

Congratulations-that is an amazing award!  Unfortunately, we cannot match such offers as we do not have those types of funds.

We no longer have a limit for admissions, but the applicant must meet minimum qualifications and meet the approval of all deciding faculty to show promise in the program.

Yes! We understand that not everyone is a great test taker and we have found that the GREs are not a good predictor of success in our program. We do not limit our acceptance to the GRE, nor do we use it as a "weeding out" tool although the minimum score of 290 is highly recommended and scores lower than this are viewed more unfavorably. The Writing Score of 4, however, is even more important as good writing is important in graduate school. If there's a tie between two students of similar background, then the GRE may be used as the decision making point. However, we do look at the holistic quality of your entire application.

While it is best to apply as early as possible, we understand the nature of your situation.  Due to the length of time it takes to review all our applicants, you would be best served to apply as soon as possible after the Match in the event you do not get an RD internship—our second deadline is shortly after that (April 15).  However, do know that those who meet the priority deadline will get priority of being evaluated first.  On the other hand, you can always apply by the priority deadline and then withdraw your application in the event you get an RD spot or, if still interested in our program, you can ask to be deferred to the following year after you complete your RD internship (without needing to apply again).

Congratulations on your excellent record.  However, we typically don’t offer automatic scholarships simply due to lack of funds.  Dependent on funds, we might offer one out of state scholarship worth $4000 for Year 1, however, that is decided upon from a student pool that has a minimum of a 3.3 cumulative GPA.  As there are many students with those qualifications, the scholarship is a decision we make and not automatically granted due to meeting minimum qualifications.

Time is money and we understand that graduate school is costly. However, when making such a substantial investment, it is important to get the most out of your education and sometimes this requires time. Time to think, time to plan and time to carry out a thoughtful research project. The program is set up to be completed within 2 years time. We recommend this full time to gain maximum experience. It is possible to complete the program within 1.5 years but you would most likely need to take the comp exam for your capstone experience to be realistic OR obtain internship/research hours over the summer. In addition, you'd probably need to take on more than a full-time load in various semesters, which is not recommended if you want to absorb the material. However, it HAS been done with special approval in the past.

No, you may not transfer in credit from an RD internship.  However, sometimes students do take graduate level courses while they are in an RD internship and those courses are not a part of the RD internship program requirements for completion.  In that event, if you scored a B or higher in those courses, you can transfer in those credits upon approval.  The courses need to be related to the programmatic material of the program and you would need to provide a syllabus of the course to be reviewed.  For example, trying to transfer in a graduate course of "Macronutrients" is not really applicable but a graduate course in "Exercise and Sport" would be viable.

Unfortunately no you cannot. At the current time, the IOC diploma program is has not been approved by our Graduate School and therefore we cannot transfer credits. However, we do look favorably upon applicants who have completed this training.

People do a variety of things. Many students end up working in gyms or local stores. We occasionally have assistantships where students can teach semester long exercise classes provided they have the appropriate certifications-this is a popular option whether it is at UCCS or outside of it. We also have a few Pertaining To The Program to work for more than 20 hours a week while being a full time student.

Most of our students are newly DPD graduated students. With that being said, there is much benefit to enrolling in our program with your RD. The training that you get with the RD internship does prepare you a bit better to be a more focused student so you get more out of graduate school. Secondly, you will have more opportunities as an RD than students without the RD for liability reasons. Finally, if you plan on getting your CSSD, you will be on track much faster and smoother by coming into the program with the RD. 

For example, in order to receive your CSSD, you need to have been an RD for 2 years and completed 2000 hours of sport nutrition work before you sit for the CSSD exam. Through our program, you will receive 300 of those hours. If you do any work in sport nutrition such as volunteering or completing time over and beyond what is required for an internship, those hours may apply towards the CSSD. There will also be a shorter time span between finishing the program and the CSSD exam so that you will be able to retain the information better. If you come in with the DPD, then you still have a year to do your internship (assuming that you get matched for a spot right after graduation), and then another 2 years to get practical work as an RD. You have 5 years from the time you leave the program to the time you sit for the exam-otherwise you will lose the 300 hour transfer that you accumulated in our program. Remember that you still need an extra 1700 hours to bring the total to 2000 hours. By the time you will be sitting for your CSSD exam, several years will have passed. You can read more about the requirements for the CSSD here.

Time is money and we understand that graduate school is costly. However, when making such a substantial investment, it is important to get the most out of your education and sometimes this requires time. Time to think, time to plan and time to carry out a thoughtful research project. The program is set up to be completed within 2 years time. We recommend this full time to gain maximum experience. It is possible to complete the program within 1.5 years but you would most likely need to take the comp exam for your capstone experience to be realistic OR obtain internship/research hours over the summer. In addition, you'd probably need to take on more than a full-time load in various semesters, which is not recommended if you want to absorb the material. However, it HAS been done with special approval in the past.

Yes, and academically they did quite well. However, we don't recommend it. It is hard on you (particularly when it snows), it depletes the experience of forming bonds with other students in the program and being around for opportunities to volunteer. While we have had students who commuted to UCCS from other areas, they tended to show more dissatisfaction. We truly believe that being able to socially bond with other students, and living locally allows you to partake of all the exciting events around food. This enriches your experience while here.

Graduate school is certainly a hefty investment. It is one that needs to be entered into with great consideration. While we have had students working 40+ hours a week while being in graduate school fulltime and doing well, we do not recommend this approach. Part of the graduate school experience is being able to work on team projects within coursework, and being able to connect with other graduate students outside of school, whether this is part of service learning, volunteering as part of a team, or just simply socializing and decompressing. Students end up missing out on these experiences when they work full time and tend not to have a good experience with the program because they feel disconnected. In turn, when group work is dependent on full participation and full time working students can't attend group meetings due to lack of time, the whole group suffers. We recommend to plan for graduate school financially before enrolling so that you can get the most out of your education. If you must work, then plan on taking a longer time to complete graduate school so you can maintain some type of work-life balance. Most of our students do work outside of school. This is reality, but we think a good balance is about 20-25 hours of work a week with a 9 credit schedule in a semester.

The most popular capstone experience is the Project. The thesis has also been utilized though you need to be independent and resourceful, have performed at an excellent level in your statistics course, be recommended by the instructor, and be a competent writer to attempt the thesis track. The least popular option is the Comp Exam but it is not discouraged. If you are ready to take your CSSD exam, you should be able to pass the comp exam without issues. The purpose of the program is to get your ready to be successful to pass the questions on a comp exam, especially if you are ready to take on the world as a sport dietitian. 

There are many paths a student takes with their capstone experience. Through coursework and personal interest, a research question is born. Most of the time, a faculty has available research that the student is welcome to become involved with—this is highly recommended. Other times the student may develop his/her own research question though this is not recommended due to excessive time, resources we may not have and low investment on return. Each student is different, and new topics may be entertained based on the scope and if there is reason to believe that it can be publishable in a peer reviewed journal. Your advisor will be there to help guide you to an appropriate project that is feasible and capable to be completed in a timely manner.

We consider our program very progressive and innovative! We care about good whole fresh food and the environment. As more food service systems are converting to more sustainable practices, AND a great deal of a sport dietitians’ job involves working with food service, you will be perfectly poised in how to make this happen. Also, our students are well educated on a variety of ancient grains (i.e., einkorn, farro, spelt, amaranth, millet etc) and how to prepare them. This allows you to become creative with what you can offer athletes as snacks and fuel over and beyond rice, pasta and wheat bread. Due to the rise of gluten-related disorders (which also are affecting athletes), many ancient grains are also gluten-free, wholesome and nutrient dense. Through this program you would learn about them which will develop your expertise in offering a greater variety of food to your clients. If you would like to see more of what we do, please read on our Sustainability, Wellness and Learning Initiative.

Dr. Meyer, one of our faculty, is the creator of the Athlete’s Plate along with the US Olympic Committee (USOC). Currently, we have many student projects that are working on developing new Athlete’s Plates versions such as the Vegetarian and Vegan Athlete Plates, and validating them. Our students become experts at creativity, creating nutrient dense snacks and meals that go over and beyond peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. With the knowledge of how to use grass roots herbal therapies, they can also create delicious snacks such as Turmeric Chocolate Recovery Balls and fun twists on recovery drinks such as Moon Milk (a recent creative concoction used a combination of ashwagandha, turmeric, and chamomile mixed with milk and spices to promote recovery, anti-inflammation and relaxation). Make sure to check out our Nutrition Resources Page for more student-led inspiration. We are all about hands-on food involvement and creativity.