[CalmLogic]

BTW, regarding funding, a significant number of CS grad programs will aid most Ph.D. candidates once they are accepted into the program. However, since you would be applying for an M.S. program, your chances of getting aid are significantly less, especially if you don't have an impressive CS background.

Having said that, I think it's good that you are interested in an M.S. rather than a Ph.D. Though this lowers your chance of getting aid (funding), this obviously increases your chance of getting accepted (since it's obviously easier to get into an M.S. program than a Ph.D. program) and, as you probably know, Ph.D. graduates in the U.S. get paid less than M.S. graduates since Ph.D. graduates are usually desperate for an academic job while M.S. graduates usually work in industry.

BTW, many American software developers are not interested in CS grad school for good reason:

I was recently pursuing my MS in Software Engineering, for no better reason other than it seemed the best way to advance. Then I looked around at my peers, who had taken the path to get their MS and PhD, to see how much good it did them. The answer turned out to be: very little. Few of them were able to leverage their credentials into any sort of personal benefit. A friend of mine in the Software Engineering program were out having drinks one night, and he told me he had almost completed his MS. And I said "What For?". Because that and $1.50 will buy you a ride on the subway. Every tech employer I've spoken to wants the perfect engineer, AND a pony. They want you trained 10 years with 50 cutting-edge tools that have only been around for 5 years. God forbid they have to TRAIN you to do your job. All an MS does is overqualify you. I recently switched to an MBA program, and I think it's the right choice, at least for me.

Career Guide for Engineers and Computer Scientists

since i am from mechanical background, will i be eligible??

Your work background in software development will be helpful for admission but many C.S. grad programs will only accept applicants who have taken a number of prerequisite courses prior to applying. Though you apparently haven't taken most of these prerequisite courses, there is a partial list of CS grad programs that waive prerequisites based on performance on the GRE CS and also the Partial List of Universities' CS Subject Test Policy (Partial List of Universities - Subject test policy).

Of course, it is not easy to get a great score on the GRE CS without a background in theory of computation, discrete math, etc., so at least 6+ months of study may be required. Also, while performing well on the GRE CS may allow for admission, getting funding is another issue since you apparently didn't take formal CS courses or do research projects related to computer science. (If you did research in mechanical engineering, it may be helpful to get a recommendation from an employer or former professor stating such research skills.)

In my view, it's all about time vs. money. Eventually, if you continue to build up your CS background you will get funding, but it may take a while to get to that point, and if takes years to do so it may be more worthwhile to fund yourself or do something else.

Personally, if I were to apply to grad school without having taken CS courses and wanted full funding, I would ideally publish research and get a great score on the GRE CS (800+). I would also take at least one distance learning graduate CS course (such as graduate level Data Structures) if I had the time and money. Doing some or all of this would show that I am more competent than most applicants, am highly motivated in academic subjects, and would be worthy of being a teaching assistant or research assistant.

For example, some advice from forum member KayKay:

About the financial aid, which comes after you have got admission offer from the university... you will have to put considerable amount of time and effort on it... you will have to email the professors in the department... try to convince them that you will be able to do productive work under him... don't give up if you don't get funding from the CS dept itself... you can approach the profs of other depts also... in such a case, you need to follow these steps..
step1 : introspect... find out your expertise areas...
step2: find a suitable dept where you can apply your expertise in a productive manner...
step3: look into that dept's web pages and research pages and try to locate the projects/profs who are doing such projects where you can contribute significantly...
step4: write to those profs, telling them how you can be useful to them if they take you as a RA...
in above process, the thing which will help you most is your past research experience (may be a project which you did during thy undergrad degree), relevent courses you did, publications etc....

and my best and sincere advice... be focussed and don't give up...

a word of cheer for Earthlings from nonCS backgrounds

And some new advice from the Computer Science Admissions forum:

All univ. have different preferences. For a non US student-Master's applicant order is GRE, GPA, PUBLICATIONS.
For PhD students, GRE , Publications, GPA. GRE generally serves as a prerequisite and then an assorted score is calculated on basis of candidate's profile, finally Yes/No is decided if the score is more/less than cut off of that year.
I know all this because I was in the selection committee of a US university.
Graduate Students in many departments are actively involved in selection

http://www.urch.com/forums/computer-...lications.html (What is major GPA, GRE scores or publications?)

Caveat: Everything I have written above is based on what I have read, not on what I have experienced since I have not yet applied to grad school.