Pros
Good clout. Recognized as a top research institute (when mentioned alongside UCSF/Stanford; alone, clout is nonexistent outside of the research industry.) Everyone here is ambitious.
Cons
experience is highly dependent on your lab. Many nightmare PIs in Gladstone. They can solely ruin your experience. Mine pushed hard for a project that just didn’t have the data to back it up and then got mad when we couldn’t produce the data. RAs only tell you this after you’ve joined (coming from an RA who interviewed RAs for jobs in my lab). Pay can also be a lot better (52k with benefits and no overtime hours even though you work more than 40 hrs/week, no room for more for RA1s, and they are hesitant to promote.) Your success will come from you, not your PI or Gladstone, which really doesn’t do much. The Institute just happens to attract motivated people.