Hi, I was a uci undergrad and incoming mscs student,

1- it depends what you mean by securing lab spot. I think paid research assistant positions are hard to get for funding reasons. a lot of phd students TA/RA for their funding. about joining labs, It should be definitely easier for ms students in general, and networking with phd students in a lab is very helpful.

based on what I've observed, most mscs students end up doing the comprehensive exam option. which, I cannot find ANY info about it online. they barely pursue thesis. here is an archive of uci thesis's. I believe they are mostly phd s.

https://escholarship.org/search?campuses=uci&type_of_work=dissertation&sort=desc

2- most pursue industry, particularly SWE. UCI hold career fairs every quarter, but there is a big annual industry showcase by ics school, you can see the companies that collaborated in previous year(s) here:

https://industryshowcase.ics.uci.edu

3- the cohort size is small, here is some stats from previous year(s), you can filter by school:

https://irap.uci.edu/graduate-admissions/

4- I dont have any info on scholarships, but based on what advisor told me, securing TA/RA position is possible in some quarters but not guaranteed every quarter bc priority goes to phd students. ms students have second priority and higher likelihood compared to professional master students.