NUS官方:

What are the differences between the programmes i.e. Graduate Diploma, Master’s degree and Doctoral degree?

NUS offers a variety of comprehensive and challenging graduate programmes, some of which are primarily research-based, while others are coursework-based.
The Graduate Diploma is offered as a terminal qualification and provides limited professional training in a specific niche.
The Master’s degree is intended to develop mastery of a field and prepares students for the practice of a profession (e.g. Master of Science programmes) or as a precursor to doctoral training (e.g. Master of Engineering programme). In order to accommodate students with full-time employment, some programmes allow students to enroll on a part-time basis, with modules conducted in the evenings, and in some instances, on Saturdays.

The Doctoral degree is designed to prepare students for creative activity and original research, often in preparation for the pursuit of an academic or research career. Graduate students are admitted to either a coursework or research programme and are distinguished by the programme in which they are enrolled. The Graduate Diploma and the Master of Science degree programmes are offered under the coursework structure. The PhD and Master of Engineering degrees in certain disciplines are research-based programmes.

NUS和NTU的Master分两种, ｍａｓｔｅｒ　ｂｙ　ｃｏｕｒｓｅ和　ｍａｓｔｅｒ　ｂｙ　ｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈ　
第一种是授课的,第二种是做研究的.

Master of Science 也有两说,工程学院授课的master,毕业发的学位叫 Master of Science, 研究的Master, 发的学位是Master of Engineering.

但是这里注意,科学院的Master学位( School of Computing, School of Science etc.), 研究的Master 发的学位是 Master of Science, 授课的叫 Master of XXXX 看你专业来定这个XXXX.

两种的区别主要在于, Master by course, 可以只用修课,不做论文(你也可以选择做论文). 课修够了就毕业. 最短学制1年 (full time). 读part time的人比较多. 大多数by course没有奖学金, 当然个别学科有,如DTI,MIT联合以及物流学院的. 所以就是自己交钱, 时间短, 拿了学位走人,可以不用被老板牵制. 入学要求低,好的GPA+托福580+ 就可以了.

Master by research 一般有奖学金.必须做论文,但是没有publication的要求. 最短要1.5年+,看老板心情. 读part time的人少,还是有part time的. 所以说,就是,学校发钱, 时间长, 毕业看老板,入学要求会高一点.

对于读Phd, Master by research 主要为读phd做准备, 可以转成phd. 而by course, 虽然工作准备的,但学业优秀的学生也可以继续申请攻读博士学位，并可以免去托福和GRE成绩。

不能说哪种就好,哪种就一定不好. MBA就是典型的授课Master,大家都喜欢. 对于找工作, 我觉得还是专业重要. computer, 工程学院的,就是比Arts学院的找工作容易.

Master在新加坡及很多西方国家是过渡学位, 本身含金量并不如在中国的高. 这边的雇主招人是,并不在意by course 和 by research的区别,如进moto, master degree 的 fresh 进去都是3k, 没有区别. 雇主招人会在意各人能力, IQ 和EQ. 这也就是有phd 学位找工作,并不一定比master容易的原因.

所以说, 两种学位, 区别并不大. 看你自己自身情况申请, 有钱,想省时间,不爱做研究,又没有GRE,可以申请Master by course. 没钱,有的就是时间,还有GRE,不管爱不爱做研究,都可以申请 Master by research, 因为 NUS这里的master还是做不出什么意义太大的研究.