Hi Gabe,
Thanks so much again for doing this.
I just finished my first semester in a doctoral program in an interdisciplinary humanities field. However, because of multiple reasons I'm looking to "transfer" (or technically just start over): fewer resources/faculty at the university related to my topic, location, and desire to be trained in a specific methodology, rather than a "theme" or "topic." I wasn't aware of any of these issues when I started the program and they have only slowly emerged over the course of the past couple months. I realize that graduate students change programs for various reasons, including just having a bad fit with their school.
In my applications, I do mention that I am at Z University now and think that X University would enable me to better reach my academic goals, but I don't spend more than 1-2 sentences talking about the "transfer" and try to focus on the positives of X University. I want to acknowledge it, but not make it a big deal.
All that said, two questions: Is it unrealistic to expect to be admitted to another program after having started this one? And am I pitching it "correctly"?
Thanks!