Generally worse than if you weren’t already in a PhD program. Transfer students are frowned upon by PhD admissions: If you failed in your original institution, why would you succeed here? If you got bored of your previous topic, will you also get bored with the new one?That said, there are some special circumstances where things may go in your favor. For example, if your current advisor is leaving the institution, or if you have a supportive advisor and prove yourself fit for a much tougher program. In these cases, being a transfer student will help you. If you have publications, solid recommendations, etc., you make yourself a much smaller risk.I did transfer to a program overseas. My advisor was leaving the institution and I had a couple publications, which got me into a much better program that I’d have gotten into based on undergraduate grades alone.
Marc Serra, PhD student at ETH Zurich
Source: Quora Digest
Generally worse than if you weren’t already in a PhD program. Transfer students are frowned upon by PhD admissions: If you failed in your original institution, why would you succeed here? If you got bored of your previous topic, will you also get bored with the new one? That said, there are some special circumstances where things may go in your favor. For example, if your current advisor is leaving the institution, or if you have a supportive advisor and prove yourself fit for a much tougher program. In these cases, being a transfer student will help you. If you have publications, solid recommendations, etc., you make yourself a much smaller risk. I did transfer to a program overseas. My advisor was leaving the institution and I had a couple publications, which got me into a much better program that I’d have gotten into based on undergraduate grades alone.