Pros
EAB and the Advisory Board as a whole is known for employing a lot of young, recent college-graduates. Of course, there are also tons of people who are external hires, and certainly leadership aren't young anymore. But I wouldn't be surprised if a large number of senior-level folks started their careers early here--and that's fantastic. As someone hired in with a B.A., I've been given far more opportunities for advancement and senior-level exposure than a lot of my friends at other companies. I really do think this place works on merit, but you have to show that you're worthy of investment early on--even showing that you have the potential to learn quickly and execute on seemingly daunting tasks means upper-level staff with take a chance on you and invest in your career. You need that to succeed here, and once you prove that you're committed and can do a good job, I'd say you're in.
Cons
There are strong personalities at this company, especially in the research division. Just like in any workplace, in order to move up, you have to be able to navigate these personalities with some finesse--and that's not always easy. That said, I haven't worked or interacted with a single malicious person here--even the kookiest of characters does so because they genuinely care about the quality of work that we produce. And that often translates to what feels like impossibly high standards. I'd say it's a mix of extremely high standards and some curiosity on senior leaders' parts to see what you do when you're wrong or if you fail. That said, at the entry-level and a few clicks above that, it's expected that you don't fail. And that can be really stressful to deal with.