Second-year PhD student: below-expectations evaluation has completely broken my trust in my PI
I honestly don’t know if I’m overreacting or if this situation is genuinely unfair, so I wanted perspectives from faculty members, postdocs, or senior PhD students because right now I feel mentally exhausted and honestly very lost.
I just finished my second year of my PhD, and I recently received a below-expectations research evaluation from my PI (who is a relatively new PI, if that matters). The scary part is that in my program, getting two of these evaluations can essentially get you removed from the PhD program. This is my first one, but now I’m heading into qualifying exams already stressed, anxious, and honestly terrified about my future.
What makes this difficult for me is that I genuinely don’t feel like I deserved that evaluation. I was in the lab almost every day, regularly attending meetings, discussing experiments with my PI, and presenting progress every two weeks in group meetings. On top of that, I had one of the hardest TA assignments this semester, and despite the workload, I actually performed very well as a TA according to both students and faculty.
Research-wise, yes, not everything worked. I somewhat agree that I probably failed to communicate progress in the exact way my PI expects. But at the same time, I consistently showed data, including failed experiments, troubleshooting attempts, optimization work, and new directions. I was still working every day and trying to move the project forward. It’s not like I disappeared for days or stopped caring.
What hurts is that when I asked my PI why I received the evaluation, the explanation was basically that I “haven’t done enough work” and that he expected more productivity. From my perspective, though, I genuinely did put in significant effort this semester. The expectation now almost feels like I need to document every hour of my day and constantly prove I’m working.
During that discussion, I even mentioned that I felt like I had contributed more work and data than some other PhD students in the lab, but the response I got was something along the lines of “X is doing good work, they’re just not focused.” That honestly confused me because I feel like I was putting in at least as much effort - if not more - than some of my colleagues.
On top of that, the lab environment itself has become really toxic for me mentally. We have a collaborative project involving three PhD students, but instead of feeling like teamwork, it often feels like everyone is competing to make themselves look the best in front of the PI. Communication is poor, people move ahead without coordinating properly, and I constantly feel pressured to prove myself rather than feeling supported. I often end up chasing people for updates, data, or information related to the project.
The hardest part for me is that this evaluation came without any serious prior warning or major discussion beforehand. If my PI had sat down with me earlier and clearly said, “You are underperforming and this may affect your standing,” I honestly would have reacted very differently. Instead, getting hit with this evaluation directly has honestly broken a lot of my trust in the mentoring relationship.
And that’s what scares me most moving forward. I originally joined this lab largely because I trusted and respected my PI. But now I’m genuinely questioning whether this is someone who will support me later during qualifying exams, recommendation letters, career development, etc. If things already feel this unstable in year two, I honestly don’t know what the next few years would look like.
Mentally, this has affected me badly. I genuinely feel depressed right now. I’ve been crying constantly for the past few days and questioning whether I even belong in academia anymore. I know PhDs are difficult, but right now it feels like no matter how much effort I put in, it is never enough. I’ve even started thinking seriously about whether I should switch labs or leave the PhD entirely because I feel emotionally burned out and defeated.
For faculty members or senior trainees who have seen situations like this before:
- Is this kind of evaluation normal even when a student is clearly present and working?
- Does this sound like a communication mismatch, a PI expectation issue, or a genuinely bad sign?
- At what point should someone seriously consider switching labs?
I genuinely want honest advice because right now I feel completely lost.
TL;DR: Second-year PhD student received a below-expectations research evaluation despite being consistently present, working hard, TA’ing heavily, and regularly presenting data. PI says I “didn’t do enough,” but I feel the evaluation came without proper warning and has seriously damaged my trust in the mentoring relationship. Now I’m questioning whether I should stay in the lab, switch labs, or even continue in academia at all.