LawnOrnament

More solid advice, and I appreciate the industry perspective, St. Andrews Lynx. A friend to whom I vented about this has compared this situation to when you get dumped and reeeally want to know why, feel like the other person owes you an explanation, etc. But the other person just doesn't really care or just wasn't into it, and ya just gotta save your pride and get over it. I'm working on it :/

TakeruK, thank you for this very interesting and ultimately useful response. Admittedly, I have struggled at times to understand the culture of academia (my previous lab experience comes from industry). This bit about lack of feedback at all levels would have never occurred to me. I still feel it's a shame - at my level at least, feedback would both help the student to be guided better and the PI to better articulate their expectations - but alas, I am not about to go on a crusade to change the culture of academia.

My second lab rotation went a little wonky. I chose to rotate in the lab because I had heard the PI speak a few times and was interested, and then found out she was recently funded a large grant. The first month went great and I thought the lab was a serious prospect for me. Then things started to degrade: some of my experiments didn't work, the post-doc I was working under started to really bug me (micromanagement), and one time when I was put on the spot, I fumbled an explanation of my project. However, I put a ton of work into the lab, and then PI read an approved the required rotation report I wrote a the end. During the final week, feeling like things were a little weird, I asked the PI if we could sit down and debrief from it all. I specifically asked for feedback on what I could have done better. We did sit and talk, but the conversation gravitated towards a broader discussion on what a PhD requires, and I never got any real feedback. She even dismissed some of the technical mistakes I made, and said the doors were open if I wanted to join the lab. Now, a few weeks later, I check my grades and see that I got a B in the rotation (the lowest grade we are allowed to get). I think it's pretty clear the lab isn't the best fit for me, however I still want feedback. Without it, I feel like the whole system is rather subjective and unaccountable and I will probably always begrudge that. I'm currently doing my third rotation in a lab I will likely join, however, I want closure (and to preserve the 2nd lab as a backup option). Is it worth asking the PI again for feedback, or should I just let it go?