Considering "transferring" or switching to a different PhD Program

[Sansa314]

I am a 2nd year PhD student in Statistics.

For different reasons, I have been mulling the idea of switching to a different Stats PhD program.

Would my current PhD grades carry some weight with my application?

Would that be the case in Europe?

Thank you for your take on this.

[MathStat]

Yeah your grades would matter a lot. Definitely for US PhD applications, as they care a lot about your ability to handle grad level courses, just like they care when you apply as an undergrad (you're essentially starting over your application progress, that's how "transferring" in the US works). For Europe PhDs I don't know for sure, but I am somewhat familiar with the UK system  (applied there for both undergrad and grad but chose the US both times) and the UK is very grade-centric, they seem to value grades more than research/letters.