StandOut Connect
StandOut Connect is a program backed by The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Innovation that matches high school students with internships at innovative companies.
Are you ready for real-world experience?
Our mission is to help the brightest high school students of our generation create a real impact in the professional world. Over the course of our program, students will be taught how to recruit for and succeed in internships by alumni from top universities who have broken into fields such as finance, medicine, law, and technology. Then, they will be given the opportunity to complete a two-month internship in their area of interest at a company founded by top university alumni. Students will leave their internships having spearheaded a project at their company match, with many receiving return offers to continue for as long as they please.
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The Impact Our Students Have Made
Intern for Stanford-Founded Virtual Physical Therapy Company, Comet Health
“My experience at Comet Health was fantastic. I learned so much about how the healthcare system works and how to grow a company from scratch. After going through StandOut’s training, I also feel much more ready to recruit for college internships.”
Ashley designed and built a website for mental health providers, launched a blog, and performed a research analysis on potential providers in the company CRM.
Intern for University of Chicago-Founded Battery Technology Company, Haylon
“My time at Haylon has inspired me to pursue engineering at Harvard in the fall. I am so grateful to the team for giving me real responsibility where I could make an actual contribution to the company. I really felt like part of the team as opposed to just an intern.”
Saanvi wrote 8 highly technical grant applications on behalf of the company resulting in $100,000 in new investments.
Students Starting Careers in High School
1000+
Students matched with
meaningful internships
500+
Companies from top universities and accelerator programs
80%
Students who receive optional return offers
Just 10% of students globally complete an internship in high school, but 70% of students across top-50 universities do one. Program alumni have gone on to attend some of the following institutions and more.
Program Resources
Top Mentors
We source internships through partnerships with organizations such as Harvard Ventures and The Yale Entrepreneurship Society. Students will be given real responsibility within a small team and receive recommendation letters from company founders.
Strong Community
Classes will be taught in interactive workshops where students can get to know their cohort, and each student will be assigned a partner with similar interests to work on assignments with and hold each other accountable throughout their internship experience.
Career Readiness
Students are taught how to build a college-level resume, network for competitive industries, and integrate modern tools such as AI into their workflows. They then have the opportunity to get real practice interviewing with companies until they receive an internship offer.