I am in the program and I'd strongly recommend you to go if the financial situation is not extremely intimidating you. It's a wonderful program -- especially, the professors are great in nurturing the students' intellectual capacity. Also it will become a great stepping stone for a ph.d. I don't exactly know the placement rate but personally, I am satisfied with my results (still waiting for some schools tho). Talk to Noel if you want to know more in detail. But I can confidently say that the quality of the education at NYU is super.