I would like to be a part of a research project during high school to boost my resume as well as see what it’s like to be a researcher, but I can’t find any opportunities near me (I live in a rural area). How do I find a research project that will accept me? I know a school that pairs its students up with scientists during the summer. How do i do that? What would I be doing during the lab and would I have the skills and knowledge to be of any help?
You likely wouldn’t be too involved in a lab setting anyway-- High schoolers typically don’t take on huge roles in collegiate research. You can totally do research projects yourself, at home!
Out of lab research tends to work better with engineering projects, as biology/chemistry work often involves heavy equipment. Think along the lines of robotics, or coding. Will you be able to publish your research? Probably not. Will you gain valuable experience? Absolutely! Tinkering around always looks better than nothing on an application. Schools will also realize that you don’t have the resources that a student in Silicon Valley or Boston would have.
“Research” isn’t confined to laboratories with Bunsen burners and bubbling solutions. “College research” can mean diving deep into a subject, exploring the frontiers of knowledge, forming an hypothesis and proving it, etc.
I highly disagree with @newkidnewtrix 
I was a research intern for 2 years at a medical school lab and basically did my own independent research w/ mentor help. I ran a lot of my own biochemical experiments (after training) and did independent computational research. Another student who worked with me is one of the authors on a paper published in a journal. Tons of high school students complete significant research projects and go on to win the major science fairs of course.
If you are able to, you could always contact local universities and ask to research there and rent a place to stay nearby. The university may even have summer housing you could stay at. I personally commuted to a major city for those two years (1.5 hour commute) and it was definitely worth it. I also know a few students how researched at my lab who came from Iowa…it is totally possible if you find programs with housing options (or just search for your own housing). Or apply to specific research programs where they house you either for a fee or for free. There is one at Michigan State, Cornell…also I think the SSP programs provide housing.
You just gotta do your research and be okay with living away from home for a bit! Good luck!
I second @LushLillies encouragement. My D19 showed some interest in a very narrow field of DNA research and read up on scientific articles on the subject starting in middle school, and took the initiative to reach out to the authors with questions. Next thing you know, she’s invited to their presentations given near where we live (we do live in a major metro area) and later on was invited to their labs over the summer. She was able to visit one lab (but for only a month as she was attending a summer research program that gave her an opportunity to do some independent research…UC Davis Young Scholars Program). Based on this experience, she’s reached out to some labs in the area that would give her an opportunity to expand her knowledge on the subject and conduct some follow on research, and now she has several opportunities from which to choose this summer.
Many indicate that obtaining lab experience is based on connections…no such connections on our end. For us, there was just a field that sparked D’s passion to read articles and then reach out to folks. I’m sure timing and luck played a part in much of this for her, but I don’t think her situation is unique.
She hasn’t thought about entering any competitions. She’s just loving being in the lab and getting to experience all that these mentors have the offer.
There are programs like Simons( http://www.stonybrook.edu/simons/ ) or SEAP (https://seap.asee.org) that do this. Look around here on CC for more examples, like this thread:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/343495-summer-programs-that-look-good-on-college-applications-p1.html
I don’t know a ton about the AP Capstone program (which is bad considering I’m doing it but it’s all good), but I know AP Research involves conducting your own research project, that might be something to look into if your school offers it. If it doesn’t, you might try some programs like SSP, or RSI, those are the most competitive but there are a lot of others. Good luck, and keep doing what you love!
There’s also YSPA (yspa.yale.edu), which is a research program similar to SSP. Astronomy only, though.