Background: "I've always been that horse kid. I've been riding since I was 5 and I've been following horse racing closely my whole life. When I was 9, it was the year Barbaro was in the Kentucky Derby and I fell in love with him and his talent. When he broke one of his legs, I was sobbing for hours and hours. They took him to the Penn vet hospital. He later developed a foot disease called Laminitis that there's no concrete cure for. He ended up dying. I was really affected by that. I've wanted to go to Penn ever since."
How I did it: "When I got to high school I applied to my school's science research program. I knew right away that I wanted to study Laminitis, and maybe develop a cure. I got accepted and I've been researching this, working with teachers and researchers, since freshman year.
I got the opportunity to go to a Laminitis conference in Florida in 2013. I got to meet all the top researchers. The head of the conference was kind enough to let me work for him at the Penn vet hospital. He hooked me up with the person who runs the Laminitis lab there. I worked with a couple of vet students, who all took me seriously. I got to live on the campus for 3 weeks and work a 9-5 job.
Also, I've played tennis for school all four years. I'm also the captain of my school's ski team. I'm in a whole bunch of clubs -- the wellness advisory committee and a couple of charity clubs, as well as model U.N., Harvard Model Congress.
I've always been the kind of kid who doesn't need a whole bunch of sleep. I don't know what I'd do if I did. I've pulled my fair share of all-nighters."
Test scores and grades: "I've gotten mostly As in school. I was going to take the SAT and took it three times and never got the score I wanted. I then took the ACT and I got a 34. I took a total of 7 tests."
When I found out: I applied early decision to Penn so I only applied to one school. When I found out, I was home alone. I cried, called my parents and changed my Facebook status."
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