Pursuing a Master's remotely while working in industry? I'm currently approaching the end of my undergrad, and I'm faced with a dilemma (my field is computer science). On the one hand, I have  a professor that I've been working very closely with on some promising research, and he's pushing very hard for me to go into grad school. On the other, I have the (extremely lucrative) world of industry beckoning. I don't really have a chance to get into grad school anywhere but with this professor, because my grades are terrible (I'm a better researcher/programmer than student), and I would very likely do it if I wasn't trying to get away from the town I'm going to school in (which is also my hometown).

Being in CS, I know that productive long-distance collaboration and research is possible. My question is, what are the potential pitfalls of essentially doing a Master's "on the side", while working a full-time (or possibly part-time) industry job in a different location?
I think what you're forgetting is that a master's involves a lot of coursework, not just research.

Your idea is only likely to work if the courses are designed to be taken remotely.  Take into account that even when you are attending the classes in person, you had some trouble.  It wouldn't be fair to put you in suboptimal conditions and suddenly expect a strong academic performance.  One might be able to get by in an undergraduate program with C's, but that wouldn't fly in a graduate program.

You're considering a binary choice right now, work full time or work full time and pursue a master's at the same time.  There is a third option -- get started in industry now, and go back to school later on at some point.

By the way, there is no rule that you must be enrolled in a degree program, or even that you get academic credit for doing research.  If you are interested in a research project for its own sake, you can always work on it for the satisfaction itself.

However, it might be wise to wait to get started with such a project until after you see how much time and energy you really have to spare.  In other words, allow yourself to get in the swing of the new job before committing.  Perhaps you could leave things open with the professor you have in mind working with.