What are my chances for Whitman and Cornell?

Academic Stats:

Weighted/Unweighted GPA: 4.27/4.0
ACT: 34
SAT II: Bio M-780
APs: Biology(4), Statistics(5), Chemistry, Micro/Macro, US History, Calculus, Psychology,

Extra-curriculars:

ASB Student Gov’t 2 years
Lifeguard
Started Fishing Club Freshman Year, now one of the largest clubs in the school with sponsors and a website
NHS President
Community Service at local Community Garden(50 hours)
Constitutional Law Regional Award Winner
Water Polo 3 years
Tutoring Business, about 7 students I tutor

Other Info:

Competitive Public High School in Pacific Northwest
White Male
Applying to Biology at Whitman and Environmental and Sustainability Sciences at CALS

I just got rejected from Pomona Early Decision II and was curious what you guys thought about my next two choices!
I would really appreciate some input! Respond with your own stats and I’ll give you my opinion.

You look really strong for Whitman, @dlfarthing , from my perspective.

I also think you have a great shot at Cornell’s Agriculture and Life Science school. For what its worth, the school has lots of resources and gorgeous gardens. I graduated from it 35 plus years ago from a similar program, and I still think back fondly about its gardens and the Plantations.

You look very well prepared to succeed at Cornell.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

PS Sorry, about your not getting into Pomona. But, given your interests, I am buoyed about the prospect of Cornell providing you with lots of opportunities in and out of the classroom. :-h

Thank you for your response! The prospect of attending either school is very excited as both are beautiful and match my interests. Now all I have to do is wait and see…

While you’re waiting and seeing, make sure you take every opportunity to show Whitman that you are really interested in attending as opposed to it being just a safety for you. It’s a great school, but some have suggested that it is a bit “yield sensitive.” Don’t pester your admissions officer, but If you receive an email from them, open it, click on links, log in to your portal, and change your default password, etc.(all ways that some college enrollment management consultants have suggested to track applicant interest).

Would you recommend sending an email to show interest? Just to check in without pestering? Thank you for the response

From what I’ve read, admissions officers are already pretty busy right now reading apps, and unless you have a legitimate question, or something earthshaking that has happened to you since you applied, you should leave them alone (although I don’t pretend to have any idea about how your officer feels about this). Just to clarify my earlier post, if Whitman is tracking interest electronically, the portal you want to be checking is your specific one for Whitman, not the Whitman section of the Common App portal.