Can a project be "too good" for a Master's? Pretty straight forward. I am starting to apply to grad school and I was discussing possible projects with some (grad student) friends of mine. When I mentioned something in particular one of them said &quot;that might even be too good for a Master's, sounds more like a PhD...&quot; Then he also went on to say that I could use part of a project like that for a Master's and then use the rest to finish it off with a PhD. For some time I thought about this, then I decided to ask it here.
So is there such a thing as a project that is too good for a Master's? And if so, should my future advisor generally know where this &quot;boiling point&quot; is?
Note: if you need more info about my major of study or the specific sub-field, leave a comment and I can make an edit.
From my reading of the conversation between the two of you, he meant 'too good' in one of two ways:


"Too Good" as in the topic will yield many high-quality results, potentially many publications, and opportunities for continued/extended research.
"Too Good" as in requiring too much time to complete in the typical Master's degree time period, and actually should be understood as "Too advanced" or "Too in-depth". 


In answer to your second question 'will future advisor know the boiling point?' Yes. That is what they are there for, to help guide the scope of your project to a Master's level.