I've been to both as well and this is a personal anecdote with little generizability. The experience in different US prisons (and jails for that matter) differs

I've been to both as well and this is a personal anecdote with little generizability. The experience in different US prisons (and jails for that matter) differs widely - just like schools. Federal prisons are well known to be cake walks. State prisons are the worst but again differ widely - even within the same state. Typically those with different types of crimes and sentences and ages get put in different prisons, so as you can imagine a nonviolent offender under 35 with a 10 year or less sentence gets sent to a much better prison then a serial killer who's 51 with a life sentence. So take that dude's experience with a grain of salt. The state wants you to believe prison is hell, but as with most things it depends. The positive experiences I had in prison changed my life. If I had a choice between my prison experience and my experience as a master's student all over again I'd choose prison every time a million times over.