<p>Hi everyone, I've browsed this site for years but this is the first time I've posted. I'll be applying to grad schools this fall for a PhD in materials science. I have a 4.0 from three years at a community college and 3.97 from one year at UC Davis. Last summer, I had a research internship at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and I ended up with a publication from that experience (third author). Right now, I'm an intern at a local company that manufactures femtosecond lasers. I have three letters of recommendation lined up with one of them being strong and the other two probably being about average. The schools I'm interested in are UCSB, UCB, UoW, Cornell, Oregon State, Univ. of Oregon, and Stanford and every school has at least one professor who is conducting research that I'm interested in. </p>
<p>I realize that it's difficult to determine exactly if I'll get in, but do I have a strong chance at most of these schools?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>