So I recently chose between two schools. On the surface they looked really similar but one of them (school 1) was offering my degree in 4.5 years instead of 6 and also had some other specialized classes I was interested in. School 2 was also very far away from family and I wasn’t too sure I wanted to make such a big change. After accepting the offer at school 1, I was told by another academic advisor at school 1 that I wouldn’t be able to do my degree in 4.5 years (it would be more like 5-6) and that with field work I would be doing taking some of the specialized courses I wanted to take wouldn’t be possible. Additionally I found out that I wouldn’t be able to afford the tuition for the last year or 2 of my degree and on a personal level have realized that I actually do want to live somewhere completely new for a few years.

So now I’m thinking of transferring to school 2 next year. I have a relationship with an advisor at that school and she also knows my current advisor at school 1. I’m just unsure of how to tell my advisor at school 1 that I’m now wanting to transfer after just recently making the decision to go to his school. I truthfully just didn’t weigh my pros and cons well enough and didn’t get all of the info I could have before making my decision and want to tell him without seeming like I didn’t think things through. He’s also a great resource for my research and I don’t want to lose a valuable connection.

Any advice on how/when to go about telling him? Should I wait until I’m formally accepted at school 2 to for next year to bring it up or let him know my plans right now so we’re on the same page?