How I Passed the RD Exam

It’s been a couple of weeks since I successfully took and passed the RD Exam.  I believe sharing is caring, so here’s how I did it–and you can too.

For those who might not be aware, to be a Registered Dietitian, you need to pass the RD Exam.  This happens after completing an undergraduate dietetics program and dietetic internship. It’s essentially the equivalent of a boards exam for other health professions.  Essentially, the exam covers everything about nutrition from food science to patient care and management. In short, it’s a lot of info to know. When I was preparing for the exam, I frantically took to the internet to find out how other dietitians did it, so now I’m sharing my experience with you.

My internship ends…

I finished my dietetic internship at the very end of June, and moved from Illinois back to Minnesota that same weekend.  The whole process of ending the internship, moving, and trying to figure out how to start studying was pretty stressful for me.  To be honest, I felt a little lost and the fact that my internship was over didn’t feel real. Initially, I had planned to take a week off to get resettled and recharged before studying for the exam.  I ended up taking two weeks off, and wouldn’t have had it any other way. There’s definitely some pressure to launch right into studying and taking the exam immediately, but you have to do what’s best for you.  What was best for me was taking an extra week to recharge my batteries so I could approach my studying with a clearer head.

Studying begins!

After my two weeks of relaxation and recentering, I started my study schedule.  For the first couple weeks, I reviewed all of the materials to identify my strong and weak areas.  When I got to a section I didn’t know as well, I made a note to review it more later. I studied on weekdays only for about 3 hours per day (with breaks in between hours).  For the first couple of weeks, I exclusively used the Breeding & Associates study guide and flashcards. As part of my internship, we had a two day review session from Breeding & Associates and received the study guide then.  The flashcards I purchased separately, but they were nice to have because they forced me to think beyond a multiple-choice question. When I knew both sides of a flashcard I took it out of the deck. This saved me time re-reviewing material I already knew.

The study grind

After spending some time with my Breeding & Associates materials, I wanted more practice questions, so I downloaded the RD Pocket Prep app on my phone.  While some of the questions had really obvious answers, it was nice to have something on my phone to pull up when I was out and about to answer a few quick practice questions.  Plus, it includes question explanations which is very helpful. The app also saves your stats, so you can see which domains you need to work on more based on which questions you get right/wrong.    

In addition to that, I also got the Jean Inman study guide and CD recordings secondhand.  I ended up liking the Inman materials better just because they fit better with my learning style.  Plus, they have so many practice questions! I’m the kind of person who likes to read and reread information to study.  This made the Inman materials very nice because they were more abbreviated.  There were a few things I needed to look up more info on, but overall it was thorough enough. I spent the next couple of weeks listening to the recording, then reading the domain without the recording.  Finally, I answered practice questions from the domain I just reviewed.  I’m also a huge practice question person, so having over a thousand to choose from was fantastic!

Practice test time

After about 5 weeks of studying, 3 hours a day, no studying on weekends, I took the CDR Practice Exam.  While not exactly like the RD Exam itself, the practice exam really gave me the confidence boost I needed to take the exam.  It also breaks down how well you did in each domain which helped me figure out what to focus on in the days leading up to exam day.  After the practice exam, I had about a week and a half before my actual RD exam. During this week and a half, I studied sporadically, an hour here, nothing for a couple days, an hour there.  I also only focused on the topics I didn’t know as well.

Exam day

Single-handedly, one of the most stressful days of my life.  I’m not a morning person, so I scheduled my exam around noon.  I would highly recommend keeping in mind what time will be best for you if you’re able.  For me, taking the exam at 8am would be a definite no-go, but I also knew I’d be totally psyching myself out if I scheduled it for the afternoon.  That morning, I was an absolute wreck. I tried eating breakfast, but my stomach was so tied up in knots I could only choke down a few bites. The anxiety was high!  You’re supposed to arrive at the testing center about 30 minutes early for the registration and check-in process. I ended up getting there an hour and a half early… At this point in my life, I’m pretty used to being ridiculously early to everything (I have an irrational fear of being late).  I just hung out in my car, doing some deep breathing and trying to relax. If I could do it over again, though, I wouldn’t have shown up quite so early because it gave me extra time to psych myself out. All’s well that ends well, however, because I ended up passing my exam!  And then I immediately scarfed down the granola bar I left in my car anticipating I’d be hungry after barely eating that morning. :P

My main takeaways from the experience:

1. Don’t feel like you have to study 24/7 to be successful.  I took quite a few days off so I could spend time with family and friends and enjoy my summer.  Having these moments to take a breather and not think about nutrition was extremely helpful for my mental health leading up to exam day.
2. Whatever you do: DON’T google anything related to people failing the exam.  I made the mistake of doing this a couple days before I took it and it freaked me out!  There’s 100% nothing wrong with not passing your first time, but heading into the exam you don’t want to be reading about people who haven’t.  It makes you doubt yourself, and you want to go into your exam confident that you can (and will) pass!
3. Study from at least two different sets of materials.  While I don’t think it’s necessary to do what I did and study from Inman and B&A (plus an app), I do think it’s a good idea to look through materials written by two different groups of people.  There were a lot of things in one of my sets of study materials that weren’t in the other.  This helped me get a more well-rounded idea of what’s on the exam.
4. Remember that it may take some time for information from that food science class 3 years ago to come back.  I can’t begin to tell you how stupid I felt in the first week of my studying! There was so much information that I remembered learning, but didn’t know well enough to feel confident about.  As your studying continues, more and more will come back to you.  Before long, you’ll start feeling more confident and less stupid.
5. Take a deep breath, smile, and tell yourself that you’re an amazing wealth of nutrition information.  You’ve gotten this far because you’re smart, capable, and you know what you’re doing. Taking the RD Exam is just one more step on your journey, and you’re already awesome!  

If you’ve taken the RD Exam, what were your main takeaways?  If you have any other questions about the RD Exam, leave a comment below!