I was accepted on my first try at DS. I have been writing for four years but almost everything has been for a print newspaper. Virtually none of my articles have been online content. So I don't know what criteria they used to accept me. I used a resume that highlighted my writing work and submitted samples from the one online job I had (though it was from 2006) and the newspaper. I was accepted within 48 hours. I wish they would say what it was that they liked about us (or didn't like) so we could use the information to improve. But, alas, they make you figure it out for yourself
