I saw a lot of posts asking to compare some MS programs in top schools. I just want to give my opinions. First, let me talk about the aim of those MS programs in top schools. Every MS program enroll a lot of students every year and some could be as many as 200+. The reason is simple: they need to make money, especially when the economy is bad. I describe it as a circle. The more students they enroll, the more money they will earn, the more support can give to their PhD program, the better their research will be, the higher their ranking will be, the better reputation they will get, and the easier they can get a lot of MS students. The purpose for the MS program is also simple: preparing the MS students for the job marketing. So the MS courses are totally different with PhD courses, and are much easier. This is well known by all of top schools. So if you aim at applying to another PhD program afterward, those MS program almost can not help you at all, unless you take the PhD courses instead of MS courses, which is allowed by most of programs. However, since PhD courses are much harder, they will cost you most of time. Therefore, you may not have enough time to find a job because job hunting also requires a lot time. So if you want to apply to the PhD program afterward, my suggestion is that going to a school which has a better PhD program and taking PhD courses. Make sure they allow this first and work hard to survive. For those who want a job after getting the MS degree, it's better to ask the current or graduated students of those program directly because they have the first hand information. It's should not be too difficult since they enroll a lot of students every year. At least, congratulations to those who get admitted. Although they enroll a lot of students, they rejected even more. So be confident, be wise and good luck to you all!
