<p>I actually was a basketball cheerleader at Harvard. To my knowledge, I was in the first group of cheerleaders that Harvard ever had. We were all friends who began cheering at the invitation of a fellow freshman who had been recruited to Harvard and its basketball team by Bobby Kennedy. </p>
<p>We considered cheerleading to be a joke and had outfits that literally were made from bedspreads. (I kid you not!).</p>
<p>A few years ago, I met a woman who graduated at least 15 years after me and was a Harvard cheerleader and was very proud of the fact. Clearly, in her era, some people took cheering very seriously. At least the cheerleaders did. </p>
<p>Still, I wonder whether someone who honestly likes cheerleading and views it as a sport would be happy cheering at an Ivy where, I think, even now most students wouldn’t take cheerleading seriously. Your D may want to take a close look at the cheering squad and how they’re regarded before deciding whether to go to a place like an Ivy if cheering is important to her.</p>
<p>Yes, perhaps being a cheerleader would make her stand out in admissions, but is it possible that being a cheerleader would make her stand out in the wrong way on campus?</p>