Masters

These are some of the most prestigious universities around since you are in the first year you have some time to build your profile, work hard towards excellent academics and extracurricular activities. Depending on what your subject is, you must build projects, publications, etc., around it. Tests like GRE, etc., must be taken. Excellent recommendation letters will give weightage. Scholarships are on merit, the stronger your profile, better are the chances. But note that full scholarship is rare.

Yes, you can get admission other than via CAP round. After the CAP round gets over and all the process through DTE comes to an end, there are some vacancies in the institute. So, what you have to do is whichever college you want to take admission in, go to the college after the CAP round and ask for the admission. Based on your score, they will contact you further.

Hi,
There is no direct way that Cheap University will provide good placement. You can try in Lovely Professional University as they provide good teaching and placements. They have a scholarship programme which can help you. But I think you have to give a test for the same as admissions are closing, I would suggest you call them and get your queries clarified.
http://www.lpu.in/programmes/all/Graduation

Emerson College.
The University of Texas-Austin.
Northwestern University.
New York University.
University of Southern California.
University of Maryland.
Boston University.
University of Missouri- Columbia.

Hi,
The candidate must have passed PG or equivalent examination from a recognised state/private/deemed or central university with at least 55% (45% to 50% for reserved category candidates) of the marks. So you are eligible for M.Phil.
Thanks!

Yes, you can apply for SET exam.

Yes, you are. But, you can appear in the test for Public Administration only.
Some of the top institutions for MA Public Administration are:
Presidency College, Chennai
Madras Christian College, Chennai
Lovely Professional University, Punjab
Nizam College, Hyderabad
DAV College, Chandigarh
Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.