Wod of advice. Prepare well for GRE. About 1 to 2 month should be good enough. Apply for assistanship. Try to contact profs personally. Find out research prospects. Pick at least 5 unis ranging from middle tier to higher tier. Try on all the diff tier unis and pick the one in the hihest tier that provides u assistantship. All the best. Try for assistanship. If you are thinking MS without assistanship and hoping it to cover your expenses working then you would struggle a lot. At work and also at studies. Anyways all the best.