when asked "boxers or briefs?" bob dole responded : Depends!! brainiac: it depends. some pretty obvious factors i can think of are: 1) your interests 2) the kind of career/career flexibility do you want 3) your current financial situation 4) your desired financial situation ppl have different answers to the above. i think if you can't get into a top tier b-school, it aint worth the 100K. the same is not necessarily tru of a ms in cs. the disparity in income for ms in cs grads from say the top 50 programs is not that much. however, the mean salary for a wharton mba is around 100K (plus bonus), while i know that a cmu mba was having a tough time getting a job paying 45K last year. of course, the top students at cmu probably nabbed over a 100K, but i am talking about the odds here. also, an mba gives you more room to switch careers down the road. with a ms in cs, you'll probably start out as a programmer, and eventually move up into project management, or design/architecture stuff. unless you get lucky in a another boom (unlikely at this stage) or eventually become a c-level executive, your salary will not grow much. with an mba, if you get into a finance sector, or a good position in corporate america, you'll be all set financially. just google for"why do an mba" and you'll probably get a better response. got to go .. gluck