Considering transferring programs due to family things... opinions?

[PickleJuice_Aly]

Hello all! I'm in my first semester of a graduate program... right after classes started my boyfriends dad passed away. (We are currently about 16 hours away from his family and 20-23 hours away from mine) and we did the drive back to his hometown etc. That was really hard for us and we were just wanting to be with family and live closer, especially after that, but not wait 2+ years till that MAY happen after graduating. So I've continued with the program.

WELL, we just found out that my moms boyfriend of over 2 years just passed away unexpectedly this past weekend... With it being the end of the semester and almost finals and COVID... we can't even go home to my family for this. We hate being so far away from family and it's been super hard on us especially since this entire year has been insane to begin with ( and for everyone else for sure). 

I met with my advisor today to see if transferring programs is a possibility or taking a semester off and then transferring in the fall is something they could help facilitate in the sense of writing letters of rec. and all that. She had rave reviews about me and they'd be more than happy to help me especially given the circumstances. I already know which school/program I'd pursue in which the advisor has a contact there which is a plus!

Basically... I'm wanting to see if anyone has been in this similar situation (in terms of transferring) before and has been able to go about it successfully or not and what came with it before and after? My family is concerned I'm giving all of this up 'just for my mom' but in reality it's so early and I still have options and we both just need to be closer to family. Thank you for your time!

Edited November 17, 2020 by PickleJuice_Aly
wanted to change some of the wording