How difficult is it to get a scholarship for attending an MS program at a good university in the US for IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) computer science graduates?

Sangeet has answered this question very exhaustively, I will just add more to the part of scholarship. Now consider from the University's perspective, you as an MS student will come, finish the courses, get a fat paying job and move on with your life. A PhD student on the other hand will slog for eons, grade assignments, take undergrad classes, do the mentor's bitch-work and maybe even get a PhD if the mentor doesn't decide to take a life altering sabbatical (for you and him both). Hence for so much work and maybe the fact that the student might end up taking up academics as a career path the University has some incentive to waiver his tuition fees at-least. But even then there are very very few people who get a scholarship for MS from the University. To get that, you need to truly be a genius with a great inclination for research. This involves recommendations from big shots in the field. A couple of strong publications in reputed journals/conferences, or a very brilliant, (read CGPA for 10) academic performance. Or some places like Berkley (in the field of computer science) need a mixture of all of these. Now that was for getting scholarship from the University. Being an Indian student, there are certain organizations in India that fund part of higher studies or give a very low interest loan. Some of these include, the very prestigious JN TATA Endowment Scheme or the BPCL student funding. These institutions require the students to submit an essay about their career plans (similar to the Statement of Purpose) followed by an interview after which they give you the money. So as Sangeet said, it is an inexact science, you need to weigh all your options and then apply to right source of scholarship to study abroad. The brand of IIT-B Computer Science will help you everywhere but it can take you as far as the first impression, rest it is all in your GPA + CV + SOP + Recommendations. Also just for the interested, this inexact science is the basis of many a startup companies which try to use statistical techniques to give you an idea as to which universities you can apply with your profile. Case in point, YourNextLeap.

Disclaimer: I didn't apply for an MS as I wanted to go for an MBA. However, based on the experience of my classmates, I would mention the following. It's an inexact science. Different universities look for different criteria, typically a combination of your undergraduate performance, GRE score, quality of reccommenders and nature of recommendations, any research papers published in area of interest, quality of internships, any other aspects that may contribute to diversity (technology for social good, entrepreneurial endeavors, ACM, IEEE recognition etc.). It pays to understand each university individually as the criteria show considerable variance. However, recommendations and undergraduate performance as well as a base GRE score form the core of the cut-off decision before the other factors either prop you up or pull you down.

If you are a good student (all-rounder) with great GRE scores, good communication skills and people skills, you can always win over the professors. Particularly one of those popular ones with a lot of research funding. I'd say target an RA more than a TA. Write killer letters and e-mails that show your competence, humility, risk-taking ability, drive, hard work, strong inclination towards research (which should directly help the professor's line of work) and why you have chosen that particular college and that particular professor. It helps if you do enough research on the professor's background.

I might not be adding anything that you don't know already! I am interpreting your question as "Will being from an IIT Chem Engg. B.Tech (or Dual degree, maybe) be advantageous to be considered for funding as an MS student?" Now, a lot will be determined by the particular dept. of the particular university that you are applying! Some depts. have a strict policy of NOT funding incoming graduate students, and only fund them later depending on their performances. While some other depts. decide to fund every student at the beginning, and continue to do so for the entire duration, unless  the student performs unexpectedly bad ! In either of these cases, your background will not determine your funding status! Your admission itself will determine it! AFAIK, most depts. from most universities fall in either of the two categories. There are very very few places which involve a merit-based scholarship/funding decision at the admission stage itself. They mostly either fund everyone admitted to their dept., or don't fund anyone! PS: Some schools and/or depts. may have separate applications for scholarships. In those cases, of course, your background does come into play!

Thanks for A2A!First things first, I am not from IIT and the answer I give purely reflects my opinion only.What you have heard about the scholarships is right! Generally for an MS program, scholarships are not plenty and hence would be difficult to secure one.Having said that, it isn't an impossible task! You need to understand how scholarships work in different universities. Mostly, the scholarships are provided by the specific department you would be applying to or by the engineering/science/business school you would be applying to and every department/school/university would have their own way of accepting scholarship applications.Let me share you my scenario,Out of the 5 admits I have, I received scholarships from 2 universities, TAMU & UTD.With respect to TAMU, I didn't have to apply separately for funding. While on the other hand, UTD had a separate scholarship application, essays and this scholarship was restricted to only B-School applicants. From my analysis, almost everyone with a 310+ GRE score and a good overall profile got the UTD scholarship. With respect to TAMU, there wasn't a pattern! But again, mostly, people who applied in the priority deadline and had a good overall profile got the scholarships.The Fix :There isn't a step by step procedure to get a scholarship! But, you can probably do your part fine in time which may enhance your chance of getting a scholarship.IIT is indeed a big brand name and if you are one of those good performing students, you should be having a headstart against most of your peer applicants. Besides, try to maintain a good consistent profile and apply in the priority deadlines of universities to stand a higher chance.Hope this helps! All the very best!