This was inspired by another question here.
In Canada (and Europe as I believe), the graduate school process is a little different than in the US. The default here for people going into academia/research is to do a thesis-based Master's (1-2 years) followed by a PhD (4-5 years). The Master's is basically the first two years of an American PhD (according to Canadian professors I talked to), except that it culminates in a thesis.
Of course in the US, the default is to directly enter a PhD after undergrad (this is rare within Canada).
Question: After I graduate from a Canadian thesis-based Master's, what are the prospects of me doing a PhD in America? How do committees evaluate such candidates? Would the connotations of having done a US Master's and then applying to a PhD hold here (as in the question linked above)? Once admitted, would I be treated differently than direct-to-PhD students?
My field is theoretical computer science FWIW.
