Too many questions for a 680

Hello guys,

Please see below my profile and the score. I have too many questions, probably due to my least exposure to the american education system, so please bear with me. Also, I have filled as much info as possible.

Profile:
26, Male, Indian, Single, Engineering Undergrad, IT Work

School:
(Not sure if any of these matter to an adcomm)
1. 10th grade - 1994 - 89% - Third in the class of 120. School topper in 3 subjects. 200/200 in maths. 150/200 in English. Anglo Indian board (known for their stress on English).
2. 12th grade - 1996 - 88% - 200/200 in maths. 160/200 in English.

Undergrad:
1. Instituition: NIT (Previously REC), Trichy, India (https://www.nitt.edu) - one of top 10 Engg. colleges in India
2. Degree: Bachelor in Engineering (Production Engineering, four years) - Production Engg is similar to Mechanical Engg with a high mix of Industrial and Management flavor.
3. Score: 83% - Scored second in a class of 45. around 20th rank in the batch of 450. One of my friend who did MS here told me that this translates to a 4.0 GPA.
4. Special subjects: Had a lot of courses that an adcom might be interested - Maths I and II (90% & 75%), Statistics (76%), Resource Mgt (92%), Industrial Economics and Mgt (71%), Value Engg (89%), Materials Mgt (88%), Prodcution mgt (96%), etc.
5. Additional Info: Got recruited in-campus during the third year by one of top IT MNC's in India. Was the class representative in the final year.

Work Exp:
1. With the same Indian consulting MNC for the last 4.5 years (1.5 years experience in the India branch, 3 years experience in US at client locations). Strength of the company: 15000 employees. I was promoted thrice in 4 years.
2. US Clients: Client1 = Premier Healthcare company in Seattle (4 months), Client2 = Technology service provider in Chicago/Denver (2 years), Client3 = Premier Healthcare company in LA (4 months)
3. Reco: Got a couple of good signed recommendation letters from the from the client2. Can get a solid reco from client3 too. Also, received a company wide 'Beyond the work' award in the second year.
4. Lead: During the India office tenure, lead a 10 member team for 8 months, before moving to a client location in US. Despite being a consultant, I was trusted to lead a team of four client guys in client2. I was also the manager and contact point on behalf of the client2 for its clients.
5. Recently. I won a project worth 1.2m single handedly from client3, which is out-of-league for generally tech guys of my age/work. I will be leading a team of 10 there.
6. Coordinated with onsite offshore model. Good consulting/client handling experience.

GMAT:
Overall: 680/800 (90 percentile)
Quants: 50/60 (95 percentile)
Verbal: 31/60 (65 percentile)
Essay: Expecting a 5.5-6

Additional measures:
1. Planning to write TOEFL in Dec, since I am a non-native english speaker.
2. Planning to write PMP certification (Project Mgt Professional), as a part of the company norm early next year.
3. Planning to gain some experience in teaching/other charity activities in client3.

Future expectation:
1. I am planning to apply for fall 2005 full time in US B Schools. Open to part time courses and Europe schools, if it increases the chances for admission and finance (scholarship).
2. Desired courses: Consulting, General Management, Project Management, Information Systems -- to be inline with my current experience.
3. Given my score and the competition from fellow indians, I think Harvard, Stanford and Wharton are distant reaches. Also considering my interests, I am looking at: Carnegie Mellon, Tuck, Duke, Emory, etc.

Questions:
1. GMAT: I can see the off-balance in Quants and verbal in the score. Considering I get a 6 in essays and a good score in TOEFL, would this still threaten the chances of admission? Are 680/800 and 65% verbal really bad scores? Do you recommend me to retake the exam? I am confident of improving the verbal, but am concerned about the consequence if the Quants score drops to 85% next time. In that case, would the adcoms consider the latest scores or the best scores? Is there a preference to the way the individual scores are considered - like overall, then Quants, then Verbal , and then essays score? Would my client experience (presentations skill and special mention in the recos) justify that verbal defieciency?
2. Reco: Should I try and get in touch with my NIT professors to get a reco, now. I am sure one of them would do that for me. Also, is a reco for the indian 1.5 years experience recommended?
3. Schools: Which colleges do you think are stretch, competetive and safety - to my current score and interest? Are Kellog, Chicago, Sloan, Michigan and alike out of reach too? Is there any school that you would suggest for good scholarship programs?
4. Finance: How do non-residents manage the finance? If I decide to go full time, I would loose my job and current salary. I understand some of the top colleges cost from 60-100K for two years. In the worst case when one doesn't get any scholarship, how many years does he normally take to pay back the finance loan?
5. Scholarship: I understand most schools consider all the applicants for scholarships. Is there anything I can do to enahnce the chances of getting a college scholarship? Also, is there any private scholarships (I've heard of Rhodes') that I can try my hands at?
6. Sponsorship: Historically, the MNC that I work with sponsors MS programs for employees, since it considers this a career advancement. It has not yet seen a case requesting an MBA sponsorship. But, I am planning to make a request to the directors and VPs that I work with, asking them to sponsor my MBA and in return I would come back and work with the company for n (say 3 or 5) more years after graduation. Would this work and have you heard of such cases? Also, when is the best time to make such a request?

Thanks for reading till this line and for your replies. Sorry again for the long post, but I wanted to be clear.

Thanks,
Hardworker