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[hopefully]

Hello,

I started a PhD in Engineering, but found the research and the program not as advertised and as expected. 
I have found another program, with a great professor I have met and with research that I love (I only found out about if after being in this current program).  I have only been in this program for about 6 months.  I really want to apply for September admission (2012) to the new program.

What can I do ?  How I do explain this ? I am also interested in getting married - my significant other is closer to the new program.

If you have any advice please let me know.

Thanks!

[lohai0]

I transferred programs. It wasn't a big deal, but I did lose some credits when I transferred.

[hopefully]

Should I let my current supervisor know ? What should I write in my application to the new school ? Won't they ask questions and wonder why I left ?

Thanks.

[lohai0]

Should I let my current supervisor know ? What should I write in my application to the new school ? Won't they ask questions and wonder why I left ?

Thanks.

I had a nice talk with my former supervisor-she even wrote a letter for me. I don't think it is particularly uncommon for people to switch programs early on. Sometimes it is hard to tell there is a bad fit until a little while in.

[zharkov]

Also, contact the prof at the new school about the possibility of getting accepted there, since one never knows how competitive the acceptance/funding is for any given school/program. 

About transferring in courses/credits, some schools take none, some take a few (say 3 to 5 courses, some are more liberal. 

[polly_mer]

What I did in this situation was:

1) talk to my current advisor politely and mention that I wouldn't be staying
2) talk to the prospective advisors politely and mention my interest in making the change. 
3) I lost several credits and got caught in a residency time trap so that my time from master's to Ph.D. is a couple years longer than originally planned, but the extra experience has paid off now.

While explaining why I wanted-to-leave/left, I was completely positive about "this current program isn't what I thought it was.  The people are great, but this isn't where I want to spend the next 3-5 years and I have family reasons that contribute to my decision".  People understand that explanation because that's very, very common.  As others have mentioned, my current advisor wrote me great letters of recommendation.  After I had left, he still introduced me around at national/international conferences and we chat.  The fit in the program wasn't right, but that's no one's fault.

Start having the conversations you need to have and the rest will fall into place.  You may not end up in the program you currently think you want, but you can go somewhere else.

[klaradeb]

Should I let my current supervisor know ? What should I write in my application to the new school ? Won't they ask questions and wonder why I left ?

Thanks.

I transferred after a few months - in my case, the second program was a million times better than the first one, so there was no question about why I wanted to switch. Even if there is, it's natural to want to go the place that is a better fit for your research.

I did lose some credits, but it's still the best decision I've ever made.

[kron3007]

I dropped out of a program about a year in.  I was not as polite as some of the others and left an honest letter to my advisor, cc'd the department chair and the head of graduate studies.  I did this as I felt that there were serious problems with the situation I was put in and it was my responsability to bring my concerns to all parties attention for the sake of the grad students I left behind and any that would follow. 

Obviously this burnt bridges, but in the end I found another graduate program fairly easily.  I was quite surprised at how understanding professors were regarding my history of dropping out of the other program, I expected it to be a significant stigma.  It opened my eyes to how common it is to drop out/transfer.

I'm not recommending that you follow my approach unless you feel there are real problems that can not be ignored.  I just wanted to share my story to let you know that it is common, and they will likely be more understanding about it than you might think.