Avantages
- Working for and alongside very intelligent, capable, and motivated individuals - Pervasive "can-do" attitude - Getting to work on projects of great significance - Being well-connected with collaborators (and future employers) at other top institutions - Quirky/nerd culture (e.g. yearly sci-fi marathon)
Inconvénients
- Overbearing expectations; in the anarchy of academia, there is no such thing as having done "enough", even more so at prestigious institution like MIT - Lousy work-life balance -- creeping guilt whenever you're not working - Dearth of graduate student community/socialization - Campus and surrounding areas not aesthetically pleasing, exacerbated by frequently gloomy weather - Culture of misery (related to all of the above)