I agree that you want to ensure that the coursework is of sufficient quality. However, I wouldn't avoid terminal masters degrees with no financial support in th

I agree that you want to ensure that the coursework is of sufficient quality. However, I wouldn't avoid terminal masters degrees with no financial support in themselves. E.g. Stanford's MS in CS falls into this category. Edit: not that the parent post was implying that such programs should be avoided, bit it is common advice.