Transferring PhD programs?

[maple4]

Is reapplying to one Phd program from within another ever worth considering, if you are unhappy in your current program?

Edited October 13, 2020 by maple4

[xypathos]

It can be. It can also hurt you - it's all about how you go about it. It also comes down to why you're unhappy. Admittedly though I'd say that most of my cohort, old and new school, were unhappy with a great deal of doctoral life.

I transferred several years back from a conservative catholic program to a mainline program in the southeast. It required my old advisor reaching out to programs on my behalf and he referred me to who would become my advisor in the new program.

If you're already a candidate, I would seriously consider NOT leaving. Almost universally, when leaving one program to go to another you repeat ALL coursework.

Reach out to your advisor if you want this to be successful. They will be hurt and maybe it's something they can help alleviate but if not you don't want them angry. Any potential new advisor is going to reach out and see WTF happened so word is going to get out - control it.

If you want to talk specifics we can, shoot me a PM.

[sacklunch]

17 hours ago, xypathos said:

It can be. It can also hurt you - it's all about how you go about it. It also comes down to why you're unhappy. Admittedly though I'd say that most of my cohort, old and new school, were unhappy with a great deal of doctoral life.

I transferred several years back from a conservative catholic program to a mainline program in the southeast. It required my old advisor reaching out to programs on my behalf and he referred me to who would become my advisor in the new program.

If you're already a candidate, I would seriously consider NOT leaving. Almost universally, when leaving one program to go to another you repeat ALL coursework.

Reach out to your advisor if you want this to be successful. They will be hurt and maybe it's something they can help alleviate but if not you don't want them angry. Any potential new advisor is going to reach out and see WTF happened so word is going to get out - control it.

If you want to talk specifics we can, shoot me a PM.

Good points here. I have no personal experience with the question, but I would add that redoing all coursework is not such a bad thing, assuming you have funding to do so. Most of us are not getting jobs these days period, regardless of whether you went to an R1, so sticking around to study and getting paid for it isn't a bad thing. In fact it's a good thing, in my opinion. I'm at the tail end of my PhD and I would love for the chance to do another PhD (funded obviously). 

[Sigaba]

If you "transfer" after earning a master's degree, the transition will be less complicated.

In my experience (changing history programs) I had to start from scratch.