How To Transfer (Unique Situation)

Transfer Students
1

I attend a pretty good research university (just look through old posts if you’d like to see where), but I am very far away from home. Recently, a close family friend died, and that has caused me to reevaluate my situation. Although I know things pass, I now feel that it would be very beneficial to be closer to home, as I want to make sure family members are more accessible in these situations (a few other family members are in bad health, as well. It is much harder to fly than it is to drive for a few hours, at least conventional wisdom would tell me so). Anyway, things are even more complicated because I actually transferred here this year, so this would be my second time. If I do decide to later on in the semester/year, would it be possible for me to attend a very-renowned school that is closer to home? I don’t want to regress in terms of academics and prestige, but I feel that being near home would be beneficial, especially if I feel like I do now in 6 months or so. Of course, I think it will be hard to convince ADCOMS that I’m not simply a waffler. There are other reasons why I would possibly contemplate leaving, but this is currently the most pressing issue.