I usually either try to make something that could become a viable product, or do something I could never get paid for in a million years but can work on for a c

I usually either try to make something that could become a viable product, or do something I could never get paid for in a million years but can work on for a class. First category: games, data mining tools, audio. Second category: weird web apps, new programming languages, operating systems. (I have done almost all of these and they all turned out well as projects.) It's also nice to build something for your fellow students. Do the extracurricular groups have good web presences? Is there some kind of odd thing you can track and display? Could you pull off a massive prank and integrate the project somehow? Last thing: no matter what, do something that requires you to learn at least one new skill.