We study some phenomenological implications of models where the scale of quantum gravity effects lies much below the four-dimensional Planck scale. These models arise from M-theory vacua where either the internal space volume is large or the string coupling is very small. We provide a critical analysis of ways to unify electroweak, strong and gravitational interactions in M-theory. We discuss the relations between different scales in two M-vacua: Type I strings and Ho\v rava-Witten supergravity models. The latter allows possibilities for an eleven-dimensional scale at TeV energies with one large dimension below separating our four-dimensional world from a hidden one. Different mechanisms for breaking supersymmetry (gravity mediated, gauge mediated and Scherk-Schwarz mechanisms) are discussed in this framework. Some phenomenological issues such as dark matter (with masses that may vary in time), origin of neutrino masses and axion scale are discussed. We suggest that these are indications that the string scale may be lying in the $10^{10} - 10^{14}$ GeV region.

32 pages, latex. Minor corrections and improved referencing