<p>What exactly entails Science/Math Extracurriculars? Can it be a research project? What entails a research project?-- can it be something you were interested in that you simply researched, or do you have to actually create experiments and such? Can itbe something that you did as part of a class, or must it be done out of class? Sorry for all these questions!</p>
<p>Lots of ways to put something in this category</p>
<p>(a) school clubs, activities. Science Olympiad competitions; Science League; Environmental/Biology clubs; AMC/AIME/USAMO/IMO etc.; Chemistry Club; editing a scientific publicaiton at your school, etc.</p>
<p>(b) Evidence of independent study in science, but not as a formal class. This comes close to what you were saying -- perhaps not doing all that much new scientific work but getting a thorough understanding of something not usually studied in school. Should be documented, preferably with some sort of paper.</p>
<p>(c) [The best] New scientific research. In math, this means proving new theorems. In chemistry/physics/biology, this means performing new experiments (or exploring theoretical implications) to probe nature. In EE/CS this usually means designing something new or analyzing existing systems in a novel and informative way. If documented with a high quality (i.e. in the ballpark of publishable) paper this can be the "hook" that makes you a likely admit.</p>
<p>That generally summarizes the main categories that can fill this box. If you have other questions, let me know.</p>
<p>Okay, that helps. Thanks for your help once again!</p>