Pros: Hard work is recognized. The company treats people like people.

Cons: Like anywhere else, employees may be overworked if they are salaried.

Pros: You may have never heard of Epic before, but this is one of the best internships you could possibly get. The pay and benefits are amazing for an intern. I was making about what I would make as a full-time developer, with housing provided. I could even invest in a 401(k). As an intern, you are assigned a project and a team. Every project is some kind of prototyping, from app development to potential enhancements to their core software. Almost every project lets the interns design and develop the project from the ground up, with little to no interference. Despite being prototypes, a large amount of the projects are incorporated into Epic very quickly, some even being included in the next release. You will feel like your work is important, potentially life-saving even, despite being just an intern! You are also given an office (usually shared with one other intern until they can build more offices). You will work closely with full-time developers, QA, and implementation. The hierarchy of Epic is pretty flat, so you will get several opportunities to present your work to higher-ups (including the head of R&D and sometimes the president). Your work may be featured at UGM in front of thousands of users as well. The campus is amazing. There were a few times I was walking around and literally felt stunned. It looks like an artist's rendition or an architect's dream project. The buildings are themed, and they are building additions to campus constantly. Additionally, they have several places to get food, all of which are great. They clearly label vegetarian and allergenic foods, and don't skimp on the quality of the food. Vegetarians and vegans can expect equality in the quality of the food. A main complaint I have heard is being overworked or feeling like you have to work long hours. While this is definitely a problem some may face, it is also generally avoidable from my experience. If you use your time well and are clear about expectations, there is no need to come in on weekends or stay late (except for the occasional bug right before presentations). You do have the freedom to set your own (reasonable) schedule, and they really trust their employees. There are intern events to get to know the other interns, which will make your summer fly by. The interns generally are all housed together (if they don't choose to find their own housing), so you'll get to know everyone very well. From what I can tell, the interns generally go through a standard application and interview process, which means if they plan on offering you a full-time position after your internship (which they generally do), the process is short. Epic's future looks very bright. Don't expect this company to go anywhere soon.

Cons: The training was barebones (as a 12-week intern, they want you getting as much done on your project as possible), which is my only complaint about the entire internship. It was enough to get our project done, but our week of training pales in comparison to the few months a full-time employee receives. If you are incapable of managing your time and deciding your own schedule, it will be hard not to feel overwhelmed. Epic will do everything they can to help you learn time management (speakers, books, etc.), but if you're not motivated, it won't help.

Pros: Epic's company philosophy is amazing, and I completely agree and support it. All employees are treated as equals, despite how long you've worked there, and they're also all expected to contribute equally. It is not uncommon for the CEO to face the whole company during the monthly staff meeting, and for people to address her in an open-mic setting. Everyone works in an office; there are no cubicles, not even for interns, which greatly helps with staying on task. At the same time, I feel like it is easy to collaborate with other employees. I get the sense that Epic really values and cares about its users and helping them to do their job better, and I know firsthand that Epic cares about its employees. I also really appreciated how Epic gives each employee training in health care, albeit a general overview. The internship program was well-organized, and there were many activities sponsored by Epic during the summer that interns could participate in: * Theme park trip * Rock climbing * Bowling * Lots of food * Paintballing * Hiking etc. Oh, and housing was covered, too! As a side note, I really enjoyed the Madison area, especially the local Ultimate Frisbee league; it's very well-organized.

Cons: Even after thinking it over for a few minutes, it's difficult to come up with something that I didn't like about my internship at Epic. Epic is a large company, and like with any large-scale piece of software, there's going to be a learning curve when you start to add to the code, no matter how experienced you are as a developer.