What Grad school should I aim for with a 3.5 ish?

[scunden]

Hey,

So I go to a liberal arts college, where I'm getting a physics major, with a minor in math and also in art. I had one horrible semester my freshman year, where i got a C+ and a B+ in two of my physics classes. Ever since however, I've only gotten A/A- in my subsequent physics classes. (I've doubled up on physics every semester, at the point where, as a rising junior, i've already completed my major requirement, but will keep taking more physics classes.)

I have known since day 1 that I would be applying to physics grad school, and i did think of myself as smart ish, so I thought maybe I could get into, not the top 5 schools, but maybe some top 15-20. However, now that I've been looking into it, I'm a little scared that my GPA will be a huge handicap, and that I might not even get into a good school. I have a physics GPA of 3.4, but i'm confident i can get it up to 3.5-3.6. I have two years of research experience in the field of robotics; the summer of my freshmen year i had an independent robotics research project, and this summer I'm working at the robotics institute @ Carnegie Mellon Uni. Hopefully, next summer I will get another summer research project (applying to physics research programs at fermilabs and other institutes)

So in short, I have an average GPA, (3.5), fairly good research experience (hopefully one publication before i graduate), and I've always done well in standardized test, so I'm not too worried about the GRE (i had a 2400 in the SAT, and 800 in the math and physics -- I know GRE is a whole new level, but this is just to say that I am confident that I'll do well in the GRE).

So what kind of Grad school should i look into? Are schools like UCLA, UC berkeley, UCSB, Duke, Brown and Northwestern at reach? If not, what kind of school should i look into? 
 

[TakeruK]

With a GPA of 3.5, there are no schools out of your reach. Sure, you will be competing against some people with GPAs of 3.7+ but 1) there are not many of those applicants and these applicants cannot take all the available spots and 2) GPA is not the only thing that matters.

I think you are competitive enough for the top ranked school if the research fit is good. By competitive enough, I mean that it's worth your time and money to submit an application. With the top schools, it's never a sure thing even with a higher GPA, so in my opinion, a 3.5 is the point where your chances are good enough that there are no schools out of your reach.