Takish:
1) I would reccomend it for an “open-minded yeshivah guy” (not knowing more about you than that). Keep in mind that the experience is very different than Mir. This is a very small Yeshiva with a relatively large faculty that allows for a decided focus on each student (I know, it sounds like a cliche, but it’s true). You get a lot of independence, but at the same time, R. Ilson, the Mashgiach, and others that you become close to will have a sense of how you are progressing and will be able to guide you to develop skills in seriously reading and analyzing texts (instead of just listening to and parroting a shiur). Their is a very heavy, individualized focus on skills-development which I think you cannot get in a place as large as the Mir. If that sounds like something you want to work on, then it may work very well for you.
2) Simply put, they draw the red line at halacha. Of course, that’s a bit of an amorphous concept – after all, what may be a hashkafic issue for MO may be treated as halacha in chasidish circles. I wish I could give you a better sense of it, but “halacha” is the only decent answer I can give. Students are free to wear whatever style of clothing they like – it is a personal choice – as long as they maintain proper kavod for the beis midrash and their learning, and also respect the neighborhood. For example, when I was there, most people wore white shirts and dark pants, some wore colored shirts, a couple wore polo shirts and even jeans on occasion. Most wore jackets for davening, some wore hats, some neither. Some read philosophy and history in their spare time (moi), some read Artscroll biographies, some didn’t have spare time to read anything other than a gemarah. It’s a diverse group (less diverse now), but any well-established normative hashkafa-based conduct is acceptable (Chareidi, Torah Umadah, Torah im Derech Eretz, Chassidus, Tzioni, ect., ect.). But, you MUST come to seder, you MUST come to davening, ect., you get the point I think. Basically, much room for individual expression and personal taste/style within the wide bounds of halacha. – The faculty is decidedly Chareidi, however (though most are pretty broad-minded and can relate to the students well).