Prospective Students - First Degree

We are proud to support a strong and diverse nutrition & dietetics program with an emphasis on preparing students to excel and get matched into competitive dietetic internships after graduation. We offer numerous hands-on learning opportunities in classes to prepare students for the future. For example, our students offer in-person nutrition counseling on campus, teach educational sessions in the community to learn about public health, and get to measure children, simulate nutrition-focused physical exams using our medical mannequin in our brand new state-of-the-art nutrition hospital simulation lab, and conduct urine and blood testing to learn about biochemical nutritional assessment.

Our rigorous nutrition courses offer a strong emphasis in clinical nutrition skills (a nutrition assessment course, two semesters of advanced nutrition (micro/macronutrients)m two semesters of medical nutrition therapy, nutrition research methods). We also offer three required professional development courses as part of the DPD curriculum in order to support our students in successful career selection while encouraging activities such as resume and portfolio building, interviewing skills, salary negotiation, networking, and planning for graduate school and dietetic internships.

We have a number of active student-led organizations which create opportunities for students to become involved and take leadership positions in the Student Dietetic Association (SDA), Students Active in Community Health (SACH), and CSULB Food Science Club, and our award-winning Food-ology Radio which broadcasts on 88.1 FM-HD3, run entirely by nutrition students. We encourage prospective students to reach out to our students in leadership roles in any of these groups, as we are confident they will be happy to talk to you about the program. Our students also have access to opportunities to work with faculty on real-world research projects through programs like BUild, UROP, and the Sport Training and Research Center (STAR). Our students are also heavily involved in supporting our collegiate athletes at the Walter Pyramid Fueling Center under our campus sports registered dietitian. We are proud to see our own undergraduate students presenting their own research at local and national conferences alongside their professors.

This page is for anyone who is, or will soon be a high school graduate and have never attended a college or university since high school.  We offer a supportive and exciting program to prepare students to become experts in the field of nutrition (see Becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist on the Career Options page to see the journey our students take). 

Did You Know? CSULB preferentially accepts applicants who graduated from priority high schools in Los Angeles and Orange Counties (e.g. Long Beach Unified, ABC Unified, Compton Unified, Downey Unified, Huntington Beach, etc). To see if your school applies, visit Local Admission Area Schools & District Map. 

All admissions information can be found on the CSULB Admissions website- look for the "Freshmen" section. We are unable to answer any specific questions about admissions, applications, or CSULB requirements for since our office is not involved in any admissions decisions. However, we are always happy to answer questions about our program.

This information is for prospective transfer students (please visit If You Aleady Hold a Degree to read about options for people interested in a career change). 

Thank you for your interest in our program! Due to the volume of potential applicants, we do not review transcripts or advise prospective students on transfer courses beyond the information available on the Assist website.

Did You Know? 

CSULB preferentially accepts applicants who graduated from priority high schools in Los Angeles and Orange Counties (e.g. Long Beach Unified, ABC Unified, Compton Unified, Downey Unified, Huntington Beach, etc). To see if your school applies, visit Local Admission Area Schools & District Map.

Admissions Information

The admissions process occurs entirely independently from our department. We do not have a supplemental application or any additional requirements beyond what you see on their website. Additionally, we cannot provide any additional advice about being admitted to our program apart from the general CSULB Admissions page. We encourage you to meet with your community college counselor to ensure wise selection of classes prior to transfer.
All major-specific transfer admission requirements for the DPD degree can be found here. 
We have 3.0 minimum overall GPA requirement. 

REQUIRED lower division preparation courses (grade of C or better required) equivalent to: 

• NUTR 132 – Introductory Nutrition 
• BIOL 207 – Human Physiology (different from anatomy) 
• CHEM 111A – General Chemistry 
• CHEM 227 – Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry 
• MATH 113 – Precalculus Algebra 
• BIOL 201/MICR 200– General Microbiology for Health Professionals
• Statistics course (same as any of the following: STAT 108 – Statistics for Everyday Life; BIOL 260 – Biostatistics; or PSY 110 – IntroductoryStatistics, PSY 110 Introductory Statistics) 
• General Education requirements (see CSULB Transfer Admission Eligibility)

OPTIONAL, but beneficial to improve timely graduation, lower division preparation courses (grade of C or better required) equivalent to: 

• HFHM 176 - Fundamentals of Food Preparation
• FSCI 232 - Food Science

Be sure to check the Assist website to see what courses might be equivalent at your school. To see a complete list of current courses for the major, check out the advising sheets located on the main Nutrition & Dietetics Option page which show the names and course numbers. We do our best to ensure timely graduation, but based on which classes do/do not transfer and course availability, we cannot guarantee all transfer students will finish in 2 years. If you take any upper-division courses that you think might be equivalent, you are encouraged to keep all copies of your syllabi and then upon being admitted will receive a transcript evaluation.

If you have specific questions about admissions at CSULB you can contact University Outreach at (562) 985-5358, or outreach@csulb.edu. The College of Health and Human Services does not evaluate transcripts until students are accepted.

Most Importantly . . . 

Since our program prepares future registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs), we strongly encourage transfer students to aim high and get very good grades in all their science courses. GPA is an important factor that predicts success in being matched to a dietetic internship after you graduate (see Becoming a Registered Dietitian), and many programs require a 3.0 minimum science-course GPA (B’s or better). It can be frustrating for transfer students to enter the program and realize they could have sped up their path to becoming an RDN just by doing a bit better in chemistry or biology