How do you make bootcamp projects sound less like homework in interviews?

You are hitting in the fundamental truth of why bootcamps make no sense unfortunately. Places like Codesmith, where they teach you how to talk about your project without making it sound like a project and you put more effort into how to do that than the project itself. They convince you you are actually a senior engineer so you arent lying, just getting the 'credit you deserve'. One leader repeatedly told the cohorts that the 3 week project is equivalent of 4 months of full time senior engineering work (which is not true). This approach worked during the good times but completely fell flat ok its face and Codesmith's immersive doesn't have many signs of life anymore. Launch School and Triple Ten frame the projects more as internships. Triple Ten calls them externships. Launch School has some slots where you can work on some of the largest open source projects, like Firefox, under support from a senior engineer. Ultimately you can't change the nature of the work you did. I love that you are trying to think of how to present your work in the best light while still playing by the rules... your heart is in the right place and I hope it works out.