OVERALL - Some other medical school are old and outdated where students are expected to conform to…read morearcane rules, but not at Alpert. You can do pretty much whatever you damn well please. It's a carry over from the undergrad culture.
EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE - If you spend any amount of time at this business, you'll undoubtedly run into Cindy. She is an amazing jack-of-all trade and makes sure everything runs smoothly. She looks out for me and make sure I am well-fed and happy. Even my own mother doesn't do that. Can't say enough good things about the level of customer service here.
COMPLIMENTARY MEALS - One of the perks of this business (and one that they don't advertise!) is the many complimentary meals. It is not unheard heard of to go for a full week with lunch and dinner provided every day. Sometimes, there are 3 simultaneous free lunches in one day so choices abound. I go grocery shopping about once every 6 weeks!
FREE WI-FI - Not only is it free. It's blazingly fast! Download speeds are routinely over 100 Mbps. Make sure you are on a gigabit connection to take full advantage of this.
BATHROOMS - Bathrooms are very clean and sanitary. However, there are no paper towels. There is one bathroom in the building with two hand dryers. I recommend you wash your hands and then dry both hands simultaneously using the two hand dryers. Cuts your drying time by half.
WIDESCREEN TV - Gigantic TV with 1920 x 1080 resolution all over the place. The only downside is there is no cable. Bring your own movie and make sure it's Blu-ray to enjoy the big screen.
PARKING - I have heard parking is a problem, but I wouldn't know since I bike. They don't have conveniently located bike racks, so I lock my bike to the handicap ramp. Fortunately, there are no handicapped people who use the building.
HANDICAP ACCESSIBILITY - The sidewalk is paved with choppy cobble stone that's not very wheel-chair friendly, especially considering that the stones will chip over time. I would give it a 3 out of 5 for accessibility.
CONVENIENCE - Being here for 4 years interferes with a few things in life, like your ability to travel abroad. They do insist that you learn a few facts one in a while. Not ideal, but definitely manageable.
NO SHOES, NO SERVICE - They don't post the rules on the door like they do at McDonald's (nor is it posted anywhere else in the building for that matter). You don't know that they won't serve you until you walk through the door and get in trouble for not wearing shoes. Very sneaky. This is one of the things I dislike the most about this business, and why it only got 4 stars of out 5. To knock off a whole star is a little unfair. I would take 1/2 a star off if I could, but I can't. One workaround to the no shoe policy is to wear a pair of shoes past the security desk, waltz in, and then take them off. Just make sure you don't walk by the security desk again.
BIG BROTHER - They have cameras everywhere here! And the security guards have access to a face recognition software. My friends and I were traipsing through a restricted access area of the building one Saturday evening. Of course, we didn't know it was a restricted area until a security officer called us out by our name, and neither of us have ever spoken to this security officer before. Don't mess with the security here - they're not your typical Rent-A-Cop.
VALUE - $50,000 per year is pricey no doubt. But it's a great business and they serve a quality product. Overall, it's a solid value. If you don't believe me, just look at the thousands of people who wait around every year hoping to get in. Alpert can definitely charge more for their services based on supply and demand, but they keep their prices fair.
- Stanford T.
