I just hate pure math

I wouldn't worry about the reputation points. They are nonsense (says the person who has been in the negative since joining).

I think it's nice to try to empathize, but it can be hard right now. You have one person worrying about trading her mansion for a palace, while many are still homeless. Without making any judgment of the OP's character, some people were just pointing out that the thread can come across as insensitive and entitled.

You'd need strong letters from faculty at the school you're attending that identify a clear academic reason for the transfer. I suspect that your reasoning here would not be sufficient to get those from Michigan's faculty. I also think you need to seriously consider how much of a difference a change between schools in the top five is going to have on your ability to do good research. I think some people have a tendency to get fixated on a particular school (or a few schools) that they want to go to, to an extent that far surpasses the real distinctions in training between those schools.

Hey guys! Let's be supportive. If people can't ask honest questions they have here, where can they? No need to call people "spoiled" or a "brat" for wondering.

Well, there are good reasons to transfer, and there are bad reasons to transfer. A good reason to transfer might be something like, your advisor left the school and no other faculty do research in your subfield. In other words, you went to the school with the fullest intention of making things work out, but circumstances are simply out of your control. In a situation like this, generally the department will also recognize that it is better for you to be elsewhere. This is critical, because remember that you will have to get LORs from profs at that school. Also, you will have to explain in your SOP why you want to start over, and badmouthing the school or saying "I just didn't like it" are on most "SOP death kisses" lists I've read.

On the other hand, some people who don't get into a top-ranked PhD program their first time around go to a lower one with the intention of transferring. THIS is not a good idea. Firstly, if you see your place as 'temporary' it will affect your work and your relationships with the all-important LOR-writing profs. Secondly, what if you apply and don't get in? Transferring grad programs is not like transferring undergrad. You will be in the same pool as "first-time" applicants, except your application may be scrutinized even more heavily (why does R want to leave Harvard? does Q not get along well with people? was the coursework too challenging? etc). Also, and policies on this do vary slightly, if you did apply again, successfully, you would almost certainly enter the new program as a first-year student again. Some of your credits might transfer, especially if you stay through an MA--maybe. At most schools I looked at (I'm not in art history, but I imagine it's similar), you could transfer in at most TWO previous classes.

Bottom line: transferring is an option if, once you get to a school, you find out it's not the place for you. However, you should NEVER, EVER, EVER go to a program with the INTENT to transfer. Because look, what if you apply to transfer and then don't get in anywhere? Are you really going to be able to be comfortable in your current program, when everyone there knows you tried to get out of dodge?

(Note: I was a transfer student as an undergrad, so I am very sympathetic to worries of 'I don't know if I'll like it.' The best advice I have is, visit the campus, talk to profs, talk to students, and if you are not wildly enthusiastic, don't do it. Don't take the offer. If you're still aiming for a PhD, apply again in the fall).

it depends.

if you are a PhD student and the school is therefore allowing you to skip the Masters, then you essentially have committed to the PhD there and you should not switch and they won't like it if you try.

If you will be graduating with a Masters at some time, it is purely your decision to reapply to other places just like it is your decision if you want to stop with just a masters and get a job.

I said I had interest in the PhD program where I went for my masters. They put me on a MS/PHD track. I am now getting my masters and, since I reapplied for the PhD, I went from a top 40 school to Berkeley!

So I would strongly suggest it. Oh, and you really shouldn't worry about your professor being upset with you as long as you haven't committed to the PhD track and as long as you are not on the PhD track only.

The flip side, is a fellow student I know tried to apply to other schools w/o telling his advisor. He was a PhD student. A prof from the other school immediately contacted his current advisor.

Also, some schools specifically state that they will not consider transfer students, especially top ones. So you should reapply only when you are graduating with a masters. If you won't be getting a masters, forget about it.

This is it. Flip a coin. While the coin is in the air, before the coin comes down, you will become aware of some wish of how it will come down. Follow that wish. THAT is where you REALLY want to go. Amen. I am not joking. There is a part of yourself that knows. All the rest is rationalization. See ya in St. Louis. Or somewhere!

Once you get into a program, I believe it will be dificult to transfer to a different program. After all, who is going to write those LOR? Haha, the professors you are leaving behind! I went into a PhD program I didn't want (so I thought) but after I got there, it turned out better than I expected. With luck, yours may, too. No one left our program for another PhD program, though. The only ones who left were the ones who were not admitted to PhD candidacy. You would be safer going to a MA program only, where everyone is expected to move on,I think, unless there is the possibility that you--like me--might find you actually liked the program more than you thought you would.