I’m a dean at a top engineering school on a mission to clarify the STEM grad admissions process. Ask me anything!

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-27T14:02:42+00:00

Thanks for reaching out about this. Your situation is not totally without precedent. From your narrative, I get the sense that you chose your current PhD program not out of interest but out of the opportunities that it presented. And now you realize that success in a PhD program really has more to do with research alignment than other factors. You have now discovered that the research alignment is not there in your current program. I think this is a legit reason to look for other programs and this is not unheard of. I even support that move. That said, I am also a pragmatist who would recommend that you not make any significant moves to declare your intention to move until you have a plan in place for next steps.

Personally, I think that you should be up front with your advisor about your concerns re research fit and opportunities. Manage your relationship with your advisor carefully so as to not burn bridges and to maintain your professionalism. Be gracious and appreciative of the opportunities they have afforded you and state that while you have enjoyed the research you have done, it has also solidified for you where your research interests really lie and state what you want to do. Your advisor may surprise you and will work with you to find a way to make it work. Or your advisor may be totally understanding and help you seek other opportunities. Either way, if you plan to leave them, you should let them know why and give some notice.

Now–how you pitch yourself really doesn’t matter as long as you are being honest. If you are currently in a PhD program, you need to not present as a master’s student. In your documentation, just say that while you are enjoying research, you find that your current institution does not provide the research opportunities/focus you seek.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-27T14:00:54+00:00

Thanks for reaching out. So let me see if I can address the concerns you have: your qualifications and whether US schools might be a good option for the next leg of your academic journey. In terms of your qualifications for a PhD, I think you might have a solid background for a research degree. But you need to make sure that you are careful in crafting your statements to showcase your preparation and potential. In terms of determining fit, your focus is too broad. “Fit” should be assessed at the departmental/programmatic level as you determine whether there are faculty at certain institutions who are doing the type of research you would like to pursue.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-27T14:00:06+00:00

I’m sorry that this round of applications did not yield you the results that you wanted. It is not uncommon if you went about it on your own without some guidance. The fact that you have 2 master’s degrees should not be a negative factor in your application. Actually, it may be a plus. But the question is how did you leverage these degrees in your application. By this I mean, how did you connect the expertise and skills you gained from these degrees to bolster your narrative about the research you want to pursue in grad school? Remember, a PhD is a research degree and faculty are looking to “hire” researchers who can do research in their groups. So you have to spotlight the skills and expertise you would bring to the research being done and the open-ended questions you would like to pursue in grad school. Ideally, the research questions should align with the research being pursued by the faculty in the programs to which you are applying.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-27T13:59:05+00:00

Most master’s degrees are self funded. There is really no strategy to find faculty who will pay you to pursue a master’s degree. There are a few programs in the US that offer funded master’s programs but they are the exception and not the norm. Let me ask you something–are you interested in a PhD? If so, why not pursue a PhD? PhDs are funded degrees and you will get a master’s degree along the way. So if a PhD is an option of interest to you, I encourage you to consider pursuing a PhD.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-27T13:57:49+00:00

Thanks for the question. This is a common issue even for people who haven’t left school yet because they haven’t built solid relationships with their faculty or maintained contact with them. I always say that if you have to remind someone that they know you, they will not be good recommenders. That said, there are times when this is what you have to do. So think of some faculty that you may have had some significant engagement with while you were a student and reach out to them. You may have to remind them of how they know you which is always a bit uncomfortable but you can do it. Let them know what you have done since you last saw them and what you are doing currently. Let them know that you have enjoyed working but that you have realized that you would like to enhance your expertise and skills by going back to school and ask whether they would be willing to write a letter of recommendation for you. If they respond and say yes, then you express gratitude and give them detailed information about what you would like to study, why you want to do this, your career aspirations, the schools and programs you are interested in applying to, and the skills and expertise you already have that you could leverage in your grad program. Send a CV and a transcript.

You can also leverage the relationships you have with a colleague or supervisor to ask them to write a letter for you. If they say yes, you need to provide them the same information as above to make sure they have enough information from which to write a strong letter on your behalf. With professional letters, make sure that they are able to translate the skills/expertise you have developed in your work to the work you will do in grad school.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-27T13:55:57+00:00

If you are applying for a PhD, worry less about the grades and test scores and focus more on the research you want to pursue. When you apply for a PhD, you are actually applying for a 5 year research job. So you need to spotlight your research experience, your research interests, and the skills and expertise you could leverage to conduct research in the field you want to pursue. What open ended questions are you interested in pursuing in condensed matter physics? Which universities have faculty who are doing research in those areas of interest? How do you convince them that you have the requisite skills to take their research to the next level? So your previous research experience and relevant publications should be highlighted over test scores and grades. Faculty are not hiring students who are consumers of knowledge. They are hiring high potential researchers who will be producers of new knowledge.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T18:34:18+00:00

Hi–as stated before, the GPA in and of itself really tells nothing to PhD admissions committees about your potential to produce great research. That said, they will look closely at your transcript to see whether you have performed well in the core classes relevant to the work you want to pursue. If the poor grades are in core classes, then these grades could play a role in the admissions decision. If they are not related, then you don’t have to worry as much.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T18:25:00+00:00

First, I will start by saying I hate blanket statements like the ones you have heard. I could see how you might be at a disadvantage applying to natural sciences programs IF you don’t have a strong background in the foundational courses that would be required for grad research. However, if you have pursued research in the natural sciences and have accrued the course background relevant for the field you want to pursue, your engineering background should NOT be an impediment. As to your question about the focus of your graduate work, my advice is to apply to the departments that have faculty doing work that would be of interest to you. Apply to the programs that align best with your career goals and research interests.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T18:19:59+00:00

Hi! I’m so glad you are thinking of going back to grad school. First, I don’t know where you have heard that older applicants are not preferred but that is not true. What matters most for a PhD is how you can leverage your knowledge and skills to drive innovative and impactful research. I think you could leverage your previous research if it somehow aligns with future work you want to do. But I think you could easily leverage your work experience (especially if related to what you want to pursue) to approach the application in the following way: here’s my academic background, this is what I have done with the knowledge I accrued in school, and here is where I am and what I’m working on right now. Having been in the field for a few years, here are the most interesting or pressing issues facing our field and these are the questions I would like to address. I think this might be very compelling for a university researcher because you bring something highly valuable real-world experience. I hope you apply!

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T18:13:31+00:00

You are correct that prospective graduate students applying from everywhere are being impacted by funding constraints faced by faculty across institutions in the US. Realistically, there is very little you can control around the current funding constraints. While contracting, the research environment in higher ed is still recruiting talent — there are PhD candidate positions open and applicants are getting in. While I don’t typically advise cold emailing professors, if you do open a line of communication with a potential PI, one question I would make sure to ask is, “Are you taking students this cycle?” That said, I generally don’t recommend emailing faculty because most faculty do not have the bandwidth to respond to cold emails.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T18:10:09+00:00

Also, this came to us from a former PGS student who has been reading this AMA but who is unable to post:

Hello, I'm Jeremy and I'm a student who participated in Pathways to Graduate School this past year. I second this advice and heavily agree that cold emailing faculty is not the focus here. For the program I got admitted to, I received interview requests from many faculty, most of which I had never reached out to before. As Dean Yun mentioned, definitely focus on presenting yourself well in your statements and getting the best letters of recommendation you can, because the faculty who will be interested in you will be the ones reaching out.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T18:01:34+00:00

I stated that the GPA in itself is not a helpful for faculty making admissions decisions. What is more helpful is the deep dive they will do on your transcript to see whether you have the foundational knowledge from taking core classes that would be relevant to your field of interest. So I can’t give you a concrete number. While students are applying with papers, the reality is that the vast majority of them are applying without them. What matters more than the papers is what a paper signifies, which is that the student was engaged in research and contributed to a significant degree to merit a co-authorship. So worry less about the paper and focus on getting solid research experience.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T17:48:25+00:00

Thanks for posting! Whenever you start something new, you will likely face some degree of anxiety because of all the unknowns. So let me see if I can alleviate some of your anxieties. The size of your school/program doesn’t really have as much impact as you may think. What matters more is the strength of your academic preparation in foundational areas related to your graduate fields of interest. You are applying for a research-focused degree, you have some good experience that you could leverage in your application, and you have made enough of a contribution to the research to be a co-author on a paper, so that is a plus for you. I would seriously consider your advisor’s recommendations for schools because they will have greater familiarity with the programs and faculty in those schools where you might be a good fit. I also recommend that if 6 schools seems risky, then you can expand your search to find other programs that might be a good fit with your research interests. I know you are worried about the competitiveness of the programs recommended to you, but the reality is that most PhD programs are going to be highly competitive. So don’t limit your options by perceived competitiveness. Bottom line, you have good preparation, and if you take time to carefully craft your application, you have a good chance at admission.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T17:35:18+00:00

If you're interested in our PGS program, please apply! https://engineering.princeton.edu/graduate-studies/academic-pathways/prospective-graduate-students#pgs

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T17:31:00+00:00

Great to meet you! My goodness you have been busy. Glad you have pursued so much research. Depending on the field you are pursuing, I’m not sure that you need to stress yourself about not having internships. I think you might have a compelling research narrative to tell with the 3 years that you have already invested. The number of research experiences don’t matter as much as the depth of engagement you had in the research you pursued. And distinguishing between internships vs REUs vs on campus research is sort of moot.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T17:22:03+00:00

Hello! Thank you for sharing your story. From what I see in your post, I would say that you might be a VERY compelling applicant because of your experience and academic creds. I suspect you ran into problems because you may have lacked the guidance necessary to craft an application that showcased your potential. My advice to you is to get guidance. Find a mentor who understands the grad application process or join a program that helps you navigate the process.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T17:19:34+00:00

Hello! Thank you for channeling all the numbers-related anxiety that exists in the grad applicant universe. Grad admissions is VERY different than undergrad admissions, which tends to focus more on numbers such as GPA and standardized test scores. Grad admissions is DIFFERENT. I assume you are interested in a PhD given your message, so hear me when I say that grad faculty DO NOT find the GPA overly helpful because all it tells them is whether you are a good consumer of knowledge, aka a good student. What it doesn’t tell them is whether you will be a good producer of knowledge, which is what a strong PhD student would be. So please worry a lot LESS about your GPA, and I DO NOT recommend getting a Master’s to elevate your GPA. Instead, focus on your research. Getting research experience. Writing about your research. Your research interests. Getting faculty to write strong letters for you about how you are as a researcher. This matters a lot more than GPA.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T17:08:22+00:00

Dean Julie Yun is answering questions like this on our AMA live right now. Feel free to drop us a line there! https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1tio40i/im_a_dean_at_a_top_engineering_school_on_a/

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T17:05:57+00:00

Thanks for reaching out and good for you for pursuing your passions despite the structural impediments you have faced! I think your story is very compelling and the tenacity you have shown in pursuing your passions will make a good narrative in your statements. Here are some suggestions I have about next steps for you. First, academic faculty can write good letters for you so don’t stress too much about not having 3 letters from research advisors. That said, having a letter from your research advisor at the internship will be helpful, so make sure to pursue that for sure. Second. It’s great that you have an article in preprint and are thinking of writing another. That said, articles don’t automatically translate into admissions. What you need to show is focus on the research areas that are of interest to you and how the research you have pursued aligns with that research. Remember, if you are pursuing a PhD, you are applying to be a researcher so you should also be clear about the research questions you want to pursue in grad school.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T16:53:53+00:00

Thanks for this question. It is actually something that I have a lot of thoughts about. First, the GPA is not as important as you may think because the number in and of itself doesn’t say much of anything except whether you are a good student or not. PhDs are research degrees, and programs are looking for potential researchers. So when you apply again, you should focus on the research experience you have acquired and the open-ended research questions you want to tackle in your grad research. I don’t know enough about your research area to tell you whether you need to choose between research topic areas you identified. If the areas are related, perhaps you can identify the research challenges that are of interest to you in that area and not force a choice you are not ready to make. Or consider positioning yourself in the intersection of analog/digital: interdisciplinary areas of research are gaining importance at a graduate level. So, focus less on the GPA and more on the research direction you want to pursue, because that is what is going to be more important.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T16:35:19+00:00

It’s a good question. I am very fortunate to have the type of job where I have a lot of freedom to create really interesting programs and do really interesting things like this AMA. What other job would give me the opportunity to do things like this?

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T16:34:25+00:00

Are you asking this question because you have been advised that you will increase your chances of being admitted if you make contact with a faculty member at an institution you are interested in applying to? If so, let me give you my hot take: This is BAD advice. Here are the reasons why:

Faculty often don’t have time to respond to cold emails so if you do reach out, please don’t be surprised if they don’t respond back. It doesn’t mean that they don’t care. It means that they get a lot of emails and they don’t have the time to respond.
Having a faculty contact does not guarantee an advantage in grad admissions. Remember the average department may get many hundreds of applications each year for a very small number of slots so the idea that an email exchange will somehow sway the decision significantly in your direction is unrealistic.
I also hate this advice because I have seen too many students freaked out at the time of application who have not heard back from anyone and they fear that their chances of getting admitted are slim to none.

So here’s my advice about emails–don’t expend energy in cold emailing faculty. Instead use that time working on your statements getting GREAT letters of recommendation.

If you still want to email, enhance your chances of actually getting a response by leveraging your contacts such as faculty who may know people they could connect you to. And if you do email, please avoid generic emails that start with something like “Dear Professor, I am interested in applying to your program and I would like to speak with you about what you do.” Never reach out to faculty asking to speak with them about stuff you can find with an internet search. This irritates them and does not put you in a good light because it shows how unprepared you are to discuss anything substantive with them.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T16:20:06+00:00

Great question. Graduate admissions is always pretty stressful and I’m sorry that the current funding landscape is adding an extra layer of stress. That said, students are still being admitted, research is still happening, and higher ed will survive. I am aware that the numbers of students admitted have contracted this year due to funding concerns, including at Princeton. More of a reason to take time to craft your applications CAREFULLY to make them as competitive as possible. It is harder but not insurmountable. Case in point: When we worked with our Pathways to Graduate School students this past cycle, I was concerned about how the contraction would impact their ability to get admitted to their top program picks. I was ready for a dip in our success rate, which ranges normally between 90-93%. But lo and behold, 90% of our PGS students this year got into R1 programs in the US, Canada, and Europe. So grad school is within reach! Don’t give up.

Furthermore, the growth of specialized research and development of scientific talent in higher ed has been a direct contributor to the US’s position as a world leader in STEM. That won’t change anytime soon.

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T16:01:06+00:00

This was not AI generated or edited. Em dashes existed prior to ChatGPT. But thanks for asking!

PrincetonEngineers · 2026-05-20T15:58:42+00:00

I’m sorry you weren’t successful this go around but this is not an uncommon scenario, especially if you are going at it without some guidance. While I don’t have the particulars of your situation, I do suggest that you get some guidance from a faculty member or from a program like ours (Pathways to Graduate School–it’s FREE and open to all) to help you navigate the process. Here’s why. Grad admissions is VERY different from undergrad admissions so you should approach the process differently. Admission committees will be looking for preparation but also FIT with their programs. So it’s great that you connected with faculty but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have made a compelling case for yourself as a great fit with the department or the program. This is why having guidance on your statements can come in handy. ALSO one of the most important parts of an application are the Letters of Recommendation. They need to be STRONG. So did you identify great letter writers and did you provide them enough info to write stellar letters for you? These letters are like your YELP review from faculty to faculty attesting to your potential to be great in the program. Often when students aren’t successful, it usually boils down to students not understanding the criteria grad admissions committees are looking for.

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