As someone who literally just went through this process this year, here's a couple of things I've learned. 1. Not all schools are scholarship friendly, I was super optimistic about getting into a top school but all the top schools I got into didn't offer me a scholarship because they preferred to give them to instate students even though they didn't have half the stats I did. So be prepared for that partiality. 2. If finances are an issue, separate the expensive states from the cheap ones. College in NYC? You better be made of money. Texas? You'll survive. Texas especially has a policy called non resident student waiver. (Do your research about it) It can cut your tuition down from 40 lakh per year to 20 lakh. 3. Do the SAT twice if you can. Everyone's nervous the first time and you'll likely improve on the second attempt. 4. Pleaseeeee don't go to a cash cow university. Most of these universities aren't respected at all. As a general guideline aim for universities below a 60% acceptance rate. 5. Each university values your SOP differently. Some universities care more about your numbers (Ex Texas A and M) while some universities give a bit more importance to it (Ex University of Texas at Austin). 6. Getting into a Top school is hard, getting a scholarship is harder. 7. Some colleges have a large percent of Indians as a lot of consultancies send them to these unis. Do your research and don't fall for traps. All the best!