<p>I am involved in a club at my school. This club competes with many other schools several times a year. I see science and math geeks count 'independent research' as time that counts as an EC. My school's club doesn't practice much, and I do A LOT of "research" so that I will do well in these competitions. I don't want the admissions people to think that I did nothing with all these hours! How can I tell them that I used all of these hours for "independent research"?</p>
<p>I don’t actually think you should list that; instead if you can list some awards they will know you did “independent research”.</p>
<p>AFAIK, “independent research” refers to original scientific work, such as a project for an in-school science research class or Siemens/Intel.</p>
<p>Usually Independent reserach is done under the guidance or mentor ship of a teacher or researcher and there is some structure to it. For example, the conditions may be “you will make a presentation or write a paper or document your results etc”. </p>
<p>I can sit on my computer and for my own benefit, reserach a topic, but if that is all there is to it, it does not count. If on the other hand, I write a paper and come to some conclusions (which might be that my idea does not work or that we need more reserach) but it is presented in a logical and defensible manner, then it is independent research. In many schools, you can get class credit for independent reserach or you can get an internship to do it in say summer in a reserach institute or university. Again, someone independent needs to validate it and confirm it. It has to be something new or innovative.</p>