Ask & Answer: India's Largest Education Community

Hi Mayuri,
You academic profile is good, which means you will be eligible for most reputed / good universities (if not the top ones).
Some of the top universities have early deadlines starting from January for admission to September intake. So let us assume you want to go in September 2014, ideally I will recommend that you give your exams by end of this year, to increase the choices of universities.
For US, you will need to have
1. GRE - preferably scores in the range of 310-320. Your score should ideally not be below 290.
2. IELTS or TOEFL: Aim for 90 and above on TOEFL and 6.5 and above in IELTS. You only have to give one of these exams not both.
Make sure when you take your dates for exams - keep some 2-3 weeks gap between the two test dates, so that you are able to dedicate specific preparation time closer to the test dates.
Coming to universities, the selection is very large for me to mention here. But some of the criteria students adopt is based on 1. Fees 2. Living cost, as some places tend to be costly 3. Family of Friends living in a certain location 4. Chances of scholarships / financial aid 5. Ranking and so on - these are apart from the academic profiling already mentioned above.
So start preparing and see what you are capable of scoring in GRE to have a realistic short listing of universities.
Fees will vary largely from public to private universities. But on an average assume your fees to be around US$ 14/15,000 - US$ 18/20,000. This is an average, so you can get fees below and above this average mentioned.
Hope this initial posts helps you to plan your tests and finances and start browsing for university choices. You can always write back for more help.
If you find this useful, please rate it by clicking on thumbs up sign or choosing it as the best answer.
Regards
Nithya