How to apply for a Schengen visa in the US

I recently applied for a Schengen visa (Greece embassy, Chicago) and wanted to share the experience with answers to some questions I could not find online.
Here is the process:

1. Book an appointment!! - This should be the first thing you should do as you might have to wait for a month to get the next available appointment. Everything else could be prepared in the meanwhile you're waiting for your date so book the appointment first! For Greece embassy Chicago, you'd have to call and take an appointment. They (the visa department) are only available between 2 pm to 4 pm on weekdays. I've read numerous posts online about people complaining they don't pick up their phones but that could be because you're calling outside these hours (the embassy opens at 9:30 am). I called exactly at 2 pm and they picked up the phone and booked my appointment (for me and my wife together). They do confirm verbally if your main country of travel is indeed Greece! On a side note, they're also responsive over emails (I always got a reply within 24 hours).
2. Gather your documents - Here are the documents needed:
• Visa application form - you need to download it from their website and fill it by hand. Be careful while filling the number of entries - single, double or multi. If you're applying for the first time, I'd suggest choosing either single or double based on your itinerary.
• Passport - with at least two blank pages.
• Copy of the passport - basic information pages. In my case, the first and last pages.
• One recent photo - 35 x 45 mm in size. This is not the same size as a US passport photo. I used the paid services of an online website where you take the pictures using your phone, send it to them, they'll fix the photo according to Schengen standards and send it to your local photo store (in my case Walgreens) as a 4*6 print (you'll have to pay the store too for the print - around 33 cents in my case). That print usually will have 8 photos of 35 x 45 mm size each. Each photo will have clearly marked borders where you could cut using scissors. Paste this photo on the application form.
• Proof of legal stay in the US - ie, visa copy.
• Bank and credit card statements for the last 3 months - only your statements are needed if you are sponsoring your spouse. I also submitted my payslips additionally (not mandatory).
• W-2 forms for the past two years.
• NOC/reference letter from your employer - stating your name, designation, employment start date, location and salary. It should also say that your leaves are approved, your company has no objection that you visit the Schengen country between x and y dates and that you are expected to report to work on y+1 date.
• Trip itinerary - one copy is sufficient if you and your spouse are travelling together. I just created this in an excel with 5 columns - Date, Flight, City, No. of nights and Country. No. of nights is the total number of nights in that country. This will help the visa officer to quickly calculate the number of days you need the visa for.
• Round trip flight bookings (one copy) - originating from and ending in US. It doesn't have to be an actual round trip, you could book one way tickets all through but the first and the last one way tickets should be from/to the US. Since it doesn't make sense to buy tickets before even getting the visa approved, I used the paid services of an online agency to get my flight and hotel bookings done which were completely verifiable and the agency takes care of cancelling those bookings before the trip actually starts.
• Hotel bookings for each night in the Schengen area (one copy) - as explained above.
• Travel medical insurance - with $0 deductible, a minimum coverage of $35,000 and valid throughout the Schengen area. There are multiple sites you could use to get this but choose one that gives you an instant visa letter that you could print and submit. You and your spouse could buy individual insurances or you could both be a part of the same insurance. The visa letter (or letters) should show both of you are covered.
• Marriage certificate (one copy)
• Cover letter (per person) - I always find this helpful. It gives me space to explain my visit, my source of funds and what all documents I'm submitting.
• Visa fees - $66 per person when I applied. In cash.
• Biometrics - fingerprints and photo will be taken when you go to your appointment.
3. Attend your visa appointment - they'll ask you some basic questions about your trip, what all countries are you travelling to (the itinerary I created helped here!), how many days you'd need the visa for, is Greece your main destination, have you ever been to the Schengen area before.. that's all I remember. If everything goes well, they'll keep your passport.
4. Collect your passport (or they could mail it to you too if you provided a prepaid label). I chose to pick it up so they told me to collect it after 3-4 working days. There's no option to check the visa status online or even confirm via phone if the passport is ready to be picked up. Just show up after 3-4 working days and it should be ready.