Doing MS from a top american univ has been an amibiton for me so i have made lots of enquiries in this respect. In this blog i am posting you XYZ of GRE
It is based on compilations of things told by my cousins in doing

Ph.D or MS?

Ph.D	MS
Usually not less than 5 years	Usually 2 years
100% chance of getting funding (tuition fee waiver + monthly stipend	50% chance of getting any funding
You work on a fresh topic, starting from scratch	You may work on an already researched topic
You have a lot of time to take extra courses as your research requires	This amount of time is not available to you
Professors prefer Ph.D students to MS	Ph.D students are preferred to MS students for research and funding
You can get screwed if your prof isn't satisfied with your research, and can end up doing even 7 years of research...	Mostly two or two and half years
eg. One student changed his course from MS to Ph.D after coming to university because his prof said he would fund Ph.D students rather than MS students	eg. One senior changed his course from Ph.D to MS after one year of coming here, because in his research group there were a couple of students who were in their 7th year of research and their prof wasn't satisfied as yet, and this scared him.

What sort of funding is available?

The most common forms of assistantsips/ funding are:

1. Research Assistantships - RAs - You get paid for doing research in the lab, this research usually works towards your thesis
2. Teaching Assistantships - TAs - You get paid to check homework of junior students(Most universities have a minimum requirement of 23 or 24 in spoken section of TOEFL)
3. Graduate Assistantships - GAs - You get paid to help the officials in some place in the university (e.g. you could be checking mails, arranging paperwork or just helping the personnel in the offices. Just as an example, imagine yourself checking emails for the department, sorting letters and helping the prodeges in the office of our department... No work, full pay!)
4. Tuition waivers - The tuition fee you have to pay, which is no. of credits registered for multiplied by the cost for each credit, will be waived, so you have to pay only a fraction of the fees like the library fees, etc. (In my university this is about 10% of the total fees)

Suggestions while applying

• Email the professor in whose group you are interested and ask him if you could join his group. Indicate your current research and the potential you hold and how you can add to the research going on
• The above will let the prof know you are applying and is a better situation
• Keep your email AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE, because profs are very very busy
• Our college is well known (I think it is better to mention a.k.a R.E.C Bhopal (MACT)
  
• If you think you can get funding, you needn't bother about the fees in the college
• Contact seniors, preferably from India, about the University and the funding scenario.

Suggestions for the future:

Keeping in mind that you have to apply for the visa and will come to the USA to study,

• Make sure your passport displays your correct first name and last name
• All supporting documents (GRE, TOEFL mark sheets, college transcripts) have the same name and do not have any differences in the first name, last name or middle name
• If your names are not the same, get them corrected NOW ITSELF. You won't have time later, in May/June.
• Keep the GRE, TOEFL mark sheets safe as you will need them for the Visa interview.
• Get vaccinations done, for diseases such as Hepatitis B, Meningitis and other specific diseases as required by the university you may be applying. Proof of vaccinations may not be required now, but when you go to the university you may be asked to get them done if you haven't.
• If you plan to buy a laptop, don't, because you will get them for lesser prices here in the US.

Last few words:

• Students from India hold the upper hand against students from China and other places in spoken English. The Chinese have very bad spoken English. It would be good if you could demonstrate your prowess in English through TOEFL.
• Apply early. If your application is impressive, you could be admitted, even if there are better applications after yours. Hopefully you should be done with your application process by November.
• Universities will open your file only after all your documents are on file, which means they will begin to consider your application after they have recieved GRE,TOEFL scores from ETS, transcripts, Recos, completed online application and online fee is paid.