Haley Horrocks, RD

Wednesday I took (finally) and passed the Registration Exam for Dietetics.

Let's take a moment to examine how the exam differed from my expectations.

Expectations:

• The exam would ask questions that would contain relevant information I would use regularly as a practicing RD
• The exam would be on a computer
• The exam would be hard
• The exam would be secure
• I would be nervous to take it
• I might fail

Reality:

• The exam asked some questions that were pertinent, but also asked a lot that were not. If I had to practice as an RD with only the information I had studied for the exam, I would be useless.
• The exam was on a computer
• The exam was hard, in that the questions were very specific. They asked a lot of hard specific questions, and some easy specific questions.
  
• The exam was not really secure. They had cameras monitoring us, and they had us locked in a room, but the test company said the name and address you register with had to match your ID. Well, my name and address are both different than what I registered with, and they just told me to bring my marriage license (to verify the name change) and that the address didn't really matter. Well, it turns out the last name doesn't matter either--the girl told me she didn't need to see it. So, you can take a test with a different last name and a different address than what you registered with--doesn't seem very secure. What if I had my friend with the same first name take my test for me? She wouldn't need to even look like me, because she would bring in her own license. Does that make sense?
  
• I wasn't nervous to take it. I got to the testing area an hour earlier than I needed to and the test people weren't even there yet. I made some phone calls and hung out, and by the time they got there, I just wanted to get it over with.
• I did think several times during the test that I was failing it. At the end of the test, the screen just goes blank, and then you have to take a survey. It wasn't clear if I passed or failed even then. After I took the survey I saw that I had passed. So, there were a good two or three minutes where I thought I might have failed.

I am glad it's over. But I do have to say one thing: The path to becoming a dietitian is filled with a lot of jumping through hoops. I hate jumping though hoops. I love nutrition, but if I had known how pointless half of the things we do are, I may have chosen a different major. Like interior design, or accounting.