>>12878499This is the real answer, aside from your MS Thesis which should optimally have material in it that at least is worth submitting as a conference paper. BUT Theses in US schools anyway do not need to involve novel or significant findings. They just need to present new research that your performed. So even if you end up with 0 by the end of your MS you should still be fine.
>>12878507This is the troll answer, and is really just dependent on how good the school is you are going to. If your advisor wants to place you in the middle of his research and really put you to work then you can get 2nd author or 3rd author on a ton of papers. This isn't that much of a choice though, if your advisor doesn't include you in their research there is no way you are going to do 3 papers of significant research on your own with 0 experience.
