sierra

You have gotten great answers to most of your initial questions. As for transferring, well, that is mostly frowned upon. When you correspond with programs they will tell you that they do not consider students who are already in a PhD program in the same field they are applying to - meaning that even if you have completed the MA portion they will not review your application. You would have to get an MA and clearly indicate that that is all you intended to do at the initial school, which is something adcoms will most likely not believe. On the other hand, if your project is a great fit at another school and you correspond with the grad chair and multiple professors who agree and encourage you to apply, then there may be hope. I am transferring from one program to another. I already have an MA from another program where I only went for an MA. The whole process was very tricky - especially because I wanted all my coursework and language requirements to be transferred from one PhD to the other - they never take another institution's comps. Santa Cruz is a great choice, academically and otherwise. But if you think your project fits better at Davis, which has amazing faculty members, you should wait to hear from them. Good luck.