Pluspunten
The Rockefeller Univ. is an amazing place to work at. There are, as many people know, a number of excellent scientists here. Core facilities and their availabilities are nothing compared to any other academic institutions I have ever worked at. The campus is very small, and everyone works "together." If you want something, you'll get it, whether that be on campus or outside the campus (cornell, columbia, Mt. Sinai, NYU to name a few that collaborate with many at RU). The HR is on top of everything. Again, it's a small place; things are well taken care of (this include the landscape, too!). Oh, the benefits are second to none. 20days of vacation time?? I have never heard of it. Are we in Europe?? Actually, it's VERY diverse, too. Most likely, a lab consists of less than 50% Americans and the rest from all over the world.
Minpunten
The only cons: 1. The salary is not realistic (for RA) for living in and around NYC. One would typically get 3%-3.5% raise annually, which is NOT even enough to cover annually rising rent. Starting salary for undergrad is 38000, masters 40000. It's still better than (i hear) other academic institutions, but it's hard to get by without spending your saving (if one has ANY) or relying on one's parents (again, if you have any). 2. Depending on which lab, I think, but RAs are pretty much treated as "technicians." NOT research assistants. Most postdocs whom we work with would only expect you to do bench tasks. You would probably have to really demand you want to participate more. In such a case, you'd be working much longer hours than full time in order to attain more intellectual independence. BUT you would never get paid more. the max salary for RAs is 50000 or so.