yeah. traditionally in the US the top CS programs really only want to recruit candidates who were in for the full package. MS was really kind of consolation pri

yeah. traditionally in the US the top CS programs really only want to recruit candidates who were in for the full package. MS was really kind of consolation prize that started to shift about 20 years ago with professional night classes for MS students (I think modeled after the night school MBA programs). this is just a huge cash cow, and the programs aren't really very rigorous - you're not doing research - its more like undergrad++