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University of Pennsylvania Reviews

Updated Jun 8, 2023

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Found 3,899 of over 4K reviews
4.1
82% Recommend to a Friend
University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann
81% Approve of CEO

Found 3,896 of over 4K reviews

4.1
82%
Recommend to a Friend
81%
Approve of CEO
University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann
Amy Gutmann
1,259 Ratings

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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment

Pros
  • "The benefits are great and allow you to get healthcare from all the university's clinics/practices/hospital.(in 436 reviews)
  • "There is always room to climb in carrer positions and you meet lots of great people.(in 196 reviews)
  • "Flexible hours and understanding staff(in 99 reviews)
  • "Many opportunities to collaborate inside and outside of the institution(in 63 reviews)
  • "work life balance is great for students(in 62 reviews)
Cons
  • "Starting pay is low and it is hard to move up to higher paying positions without an advanced degree(in 247 reviews)
  • "Low salary if you are not in the tenure or if you are not an MD(in 177 reviews)
  • "management esp admin is poor and inefficient(in 60 reviews)
  • "Parking is expensive; commute can be long depending on where you live; take a while to get hired(in 54 reviews)
  • "difficult to escalate, bad manager.(in 21 reviews)
Pros & Cons are excerpts from user reviews. They are not authored by Glassdoor.

Ratings by Demographics

This rating reflects the overall rating of University of Pennsylvania and is not affected by filters.

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  1. 5.0
    Current Employee, more than 1 year

    Superb

    Jun 7, 2023 - Clinical Research Coordinator in Philadelphia, PA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Great team Great benefits Flexible positions Commitment to patient care

    Cons

    Salaries could be higher, though this is endemic in higher ed/research

    Continue reading
    Be the first to find this review helpful
  2. 5.0
    Current Employee

    Good

    Jun 7, 2023 - Program Manager in Philadelphia, PA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Hybrid work model is great

    Cons

    Low pay for amount of work needed

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  3. Join the University of Pennsylvania team
    See Our Latest Jobs
  4. 5.0
    Current Employee

    Pay

    Jun 7, 2023 - Teaching Assistant in Philadelphia, PA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Good Place to Work for

    Cons

    no cons great team to work with

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  5. 5.0
    Current Employee, more than 3 years

    Good place to work

    Jun 5, 2023 - Postdoctoral Fellow in Philadelphia, PA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Good support system Many resources (career training, access to online resources, free mental health therapy sessions, and more)

    Cons

    Low salary (similar to other postdoc positions) High health insurance costs for spouses / dependents

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  6. 5.0
    Current Employee

    Great

    Jun 1, 2023 - Postdoctoral Researcher in Philadelphia, PA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    It's a great place. I enjoy the campus.

    Cons

    The pay is far toooo low.

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  7. 5.0
    Current Employee, more than 5 years

    Great place to work

    Jun 1, 2023 - Customer Service Representative in Philadelphia, PA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Works as a team every one works together

    Cons

    None great place to work

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  8. 5.0
    Current Employee, more than 3 years

    Perelman School of Med gives Research Specs more $

    Apr 4, 2023 - Research Specialist B in Philadelphia, PA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Recently the school of medicine raised the base salary of research specialists to $50,000/year. This is not true for all of Penn or all jobs in the school of med, but is a nice perk for those interested in academic work with a slightly more livable wage. Benefits are not the cheapest but there's a range of coverage to choose from and other side benefits like affordable parking, discounts, and a bike stipend. Your work experience is completely dependent on the lab you are part of, but the university and the school of medicine give good support.

    Cons

    Most of these positions are greatly dependent on grant funding. Academic positions vary with the specific PI and work. Researcher jobs in other departments do not pay as well.

    2 people found this review helpful
  9. 5.0
    Former Employee

    Easy part time gig!

    May 23, 2023 - Teaching Assistant in Philadelphia, PA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Good bit of extra change for barely doing anything.

    Cons

    Be careful who you work for! I have friends who were TAs and worked much harder than I did for the same pay, just because their professors required more from them.

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  10. 5.0
    Former Employee

    Overall great experience

    May 28, 2023 - Clinical Research Assistant 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Helped me grow as a researcher in academia

    Cons

    I cannot complain about my experience at all!

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  11. 3.0
    Current Employee, more than 5 years

    Underpaid skilled work

    May 22, 2023 - Graduate Teaching Assistant in Philadelphia, PA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Learn how to teach and deal with students Learn how to put together a university course

    Cons

    Very low pay for a PhD in economics. It takes too much off research time. It leaves a graduate student in a financially precarious condition. The stipend went up more than inflation recently, which means that the current situation might not be as bad as in the past.

    Continue reading
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Viewing 1 - 10 of 3,896 Reviews
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University of Pennsylvania Reviews FAQs

University of Pennsylvania has an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5, based on over 4,281 reviews left anonymously by employees. 82% of employees would recommend working at University of Pennsylvania to a friend and 72% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has decreased by -2% over the last 12 months.

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, University of Pennsylvania employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.7 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at University of Pennsylvania. This rating has decreased by -3% over the last 12 months.

82% of University of Pennsylvania employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated University of Pennsylvania 3.8 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.8 for culture and values and 4.0 for career opportunities.

According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at University of Pennsylvania to be coworkers, career development, benefits and the cons to be culture, management, compensation.

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Glassdoor has 4,281 University of Pennsylvania reviews submitted anonymously by University of Pennsylvania employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if University of Pennsylvania is right for you.