I graduated from a no-name state school in the early 90s into a down job market. I was at the top of my class and did well on the GREs and was offered a fellow

I graduated from a no-name state school in the early 90s into a down job market. I was at the top of my class and did well on the GREs and was offered a fellowship to a PhD program at a private engineering school (RPI). I enrolled in the PhD program, and I used the time saved by the fellowship to take an overload of classes. Between the overload, and transferring in credits from graduate level classes I had taken as an undergrad, I bailed out with an almost free MS after one calendar year. The cost to me was the full price I paid for the credits to do the MS project. IMHO, I learned exactly nothing from my MS. My undergrad classes at a no-name state school were more challenging, and I felt like the grad level classes were a poor copy. The MS project was useless drudgery that I was not interested in at all. The entire thing was a waste of time, except for the piece of paper that I got at the end. I firmly believe that piece of paper opened several doors that might otherwise have been closed, and has resulted in better jobs and better pay throughout my career.