Thanks everyone for your comments. I think it would be silly to not seriously consider a masters at this point (no job, no mortgage to pay, bad market), so that's why I'm doing it. I'm more at the investigation stage.

More stuff:

1. I know I don't have to go to U of O, but I think it would be the easiest and least expensive option. U of O offers a masters program with and without a thesis. Since I can't think of anything I'd like to write a thesis about, this is probably what I would do. For the no thesis option you need two years of industry experience ... I'll be there with co-op terms by the end of my undergrad (see resume). The downside is that I won't be able to do a PhD with a "masters without thesis". I don't think I would do a PhD anyway.

2. Tuition is about the same price, which is managable.

3. I don't really mind being a TA, actually.

4. Masters without thesis is eight three-credit classes, a project course and seminar course (Andrew, how did you find the seminar stuff?). The school web site says this takes 2 years (4 semesters?).

5. I would really like to be in the co-op program to pay for school. I still haven't looked into that yet.

6. Andrew, you are absolutely right -- a masters works both ways. You *can* be paid more or treated more like an academic. That's exactly why I'd prefer to do a project over a thesis. A project I can put on the Internet, my resume and people can use it. Not very many employers are willing to read a 100 page thesis. :(

7. I can start a masters at the start of any semester. Maybe I can keep re-applying if I don't get in? I wouldn't mind taking 4-8 months off (though if I'm going back to school how do I pay for a vacation?).

8. I need two letters of recommendation, apparently - I read that somewhere but now I can't find it. They also say "It's best to have an agreement with a specific professor before you apply - if you don't, your file will typically circulate among professors in the department in search of a supervisor and you may not be accepted as quickly."

9. Concern: will it be too much computer science and not enough software engineering?

Next steps:

1. Check out the masters level courses and see if they even interest me.
2. Check with the co-op office to see if I can get into co-op again.
3. Work out a preliminary budget.
4. Check out other schools.
5. Talk to some professors (Lethbridge and Peyton come to mind).