Transferring to another PhD

[Motivation311]

Hi,

I am currently in the first year of a PhD program and things are not working out for my girlfriend and I as we moved thousands of miles away from our families. She definitely wants to return home after this school year is up and I support her whole heartedly as I will return with her. Is it unprofessional to leave a PhD program and reapply to others that you have just previously turned down after they granted you admission? Just wanted to know because I am thinking about applying to some other programs closer to home???

[kahlan_amnell]

If your only reason for leaving is that you aren't close enough to your families, I think you should consider how serious you are about graduate school and academia. Of course your families are important, but as an academic, you have to be willing to take a job anywhere it comes up, at least at the start of your career, if you want to have a good chance of getting a job at all. If you aren't willing to move away from your family, that will seriously limit your options for grad school and academic jobs.

[socialcomm]

Yes, I think it would be viewed as unprofessional. I wouldn't give the real reason why you left if you do decide to leave because of the reasons the previous poster stated above.

[expressionista]

I agree with the other responses that this seems unprofessional- if it were for a more serious reason (like major health problems or serious family trauma), it might be more understandable. Also, if you just started your program, you've probably only lived in this new place for maybe 2 months, which seems a bit soon to have determined you can't stand to live there after this year. Impressions can change a lot after living somewhere new for more time.

[Katatonic]

Life's too short, and if you want to live closer to your familes then do so. It may be harder to get into grad school again, and even harder to find a job afterwards, but it's all just priorities.