[cmeiklejohn]

I should be clear (as both someone who experienced this and as someone who has been involved in MS/Ph.D admissions):

Brown University admitted me as a "special student" and allowed me to take master's courses as long as I paid the $6k fee per course (in 2013), but when asked about pursuing an actual master's or Ph.D. level degree, I was told, rather disrespectfully, that there was absolutely no chance since I didn't have a computer science degree from a major university. Therefore, I had to independently seek out my own research opportunities to build a resume that would allow me to be admitted to an actual CV institution.

Therefore, I would say that if your goal is research focus on the more traditional path.