<p>If I do my master's at a top 20 program.. Would it obliterate my chances at a top 5 program for PhD (assuming same/similar field)?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>not at all…!</p>
<p>I agree. Frankly I doubt getting a masters from even a Tier 3 school would “hurt” your chances.</p>
<p>No, absolutely not. Where you go for your master’s often has almost no bearing on your chances for a top PhD program. My advice for choosing a master’s program: go where the money, if any, is. Period. I made that mistake–went to a top department and paid top dollar for my terminal MA, and at the end of the day, it made little difference. Thankfully, I more often use the skill set from my MA program than the one I built in the several years I completed of my (still and perhaps forever to be unfinished) PhD.</p>
<p>I think your work quality as well as thesis work counts more heavily than the arbitrary US News ranking of your grad school.</p>
<p>Thank you all.</p>