breakrulez

Hi Everyone, I am working as Software Engineer for the past 6 years. I am currently working on project(3.5 years) which deals with Statistics and Optimization models, which have interested me a lot. I want to get some formal education in to it, but didn't know how to go about it. Here are my details: Bachelors(Top 20 Univ in India) : passed with distinction in Mechanical Engineering Gre : 154V, 170Q, 4.5AW Work Experience: 2.5 years working as Software Engineer for Logistics company. 3.5 Years working as Software Engineer for Mathematics Research lab. As you guys can see I don't have much background. I want to apply for PhD program, but I am not sure I would be selected into any moderate universities. So finally my question, is good to do Masters, and get some background before applying for PhD? If so, please suggest some univ, where i can apply. Thanks in Advance for the help, i would really appreciate the suggestions.