<human>: Give me the gist of the text in a nutshell

We've had class and lab for almost two months now and we seem to be connecting pretty well. We are always talking, making each other laugh and all around enjoying each other's company. I've really started to like her so I decided to ask her out on a date.

Her response to this was along the lines of "I don't know, my life is pretty busy right now." To be fair, she does have a lot going on at the moment with school, work and plenty of other things so I can understand where she is coming from. She did, however, suggest that we still get together to hang out and do some sort of activity (hiking, rock climbing, etc).

I took this as her wanting to test the waters so we can get to know each other outside of class before we try dating. I talked to my friend about this and he thinks that she politely turned me down and just wants to be friends. So am I right to hold out hope for her or did I just get friend-zoned? How do I let her know how I feel without coming on too strong or rushing the situation?
<bot>: Asked out a classmate and she says she's too busy at the moment to date but still wants to hang out outside of class. Is there a chance it will work out or did I get friend-zoned?