PhD programs in US usually include an MSc degree and many of the admitted students don't have an MSc. In Europe however, with just a few exceptions, everywhere requires an MSc for a PhD. There are also quite a few differences in the structure of the undergrad in US and Europe.
I was wondering if it is easier for someone with a US undergrad degree to get into an MSc in Europe than PhD in US? Are the PhD admissions in US more competitive?
If I have an offer from a couple of top US schools (by "top" I don't mean Harvard and MIT, I mean around a dozen (national) ranks below that... say, top 30-40 in global rankings), should I be confident that I can get into one of the few MSc programs in Europe I've applied to? (The programs are top/best programs in Europe, but the universities are essentially on par with the US school in global rankings. Perhaps some of them have a better global reputation in the specific field.)
Note:
1 - By Europe I am referring to Western Europe, excluding UK. More specifically, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Holland, Austria.
2 - The field is Mathematics, if that makes a difference. (I think it might, given the reputation of places like Heidelberg, Bonn (Hausdorff Institute), and the universities in Paris have in Mathematics.)