Fall 2026 cohort

StandOut Connect Fall

StandOut Connect Fall is a program that provides online internships for high school students during the school year: five weeks of professional training, then a nine-week internship at a company in their chosen area of interest.

Applications for Fall 2026 have closed. Apply for Future Cohorts

Curriculum & Dates

Weeks 1–5: Professional Training. Weeks 6–14: Internship.

Training · 5 weeks

Internship · 9 weeks

Part One

Training

Aug. 30th – Sept. 27th

At most 5 hours per week

Students attend five professional training workshops online every Sunday and interview with companies in the interest areas they choose until they find an internship they are happy with. Workshops are optional and always recorded. Workshops two through five include a live Q&A with a recent graduate of a top university on how internship search works in college. Past speakers have taught students how to prepare for admissions and recruiting at Yale School of Medicine, Columbia Law School, Bank of America, and Google DeepMind.

Week 1 · Aug. 30th
Internship and college application strategy
- How to pitch yourself with a compelling story
- Building a college-level resume and LinkedIn presence
- Meeting the student partner you will work with throughout the cohort
Week 2 · Sept. 6th
Interview and networking best practices
- Mock behavioral interviews
- How to network for the various industries you may want to recruit for in college
- How to leverage cold outreach to find future internships
Week 3 · Sept. 13th
General professionalism and internship success
- Etiquette for digital communications and meetings
- How to approach problems independently, and when to ask for help
- Interview with real companies in your interest area to find a match
Week 4 · Sept. 20th
Modern software stack & AI tools
- The software stack used by most innovative companies today
- Integrating tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, and HubSpot into your workflows
- Final internship matches are announced at the end of the week
Week 5 · Sept. 27th
Internship-specific tasks
- How to approach tasks like industry analysis, web design, and lead generation
- How to get a standout recommendation letter
- You officially graduate from our training program

Part Two

Internship

Sept. 28th - Nov. 27th

At most 10 hours per week

Students work with a mentor at an innovative company to spearhead meaningful projects. We look for mentors who came from somewhere our students want to end up: a top university, a Vault-ranked firm like McKinsey or Goldman Sachs, a Fortune 500 company, or an accelerator like Y Combinator. Every Friday, students check in with our team, so any issue with a mentor or a project gets caught the week it happens. 80% of students receive optional return offers to continue their internship beyond two months.

★
Internship · Sept. 28th - Nov. 27th
Two-month remote internship
- A two-month remote internship at your company match
- Spearheading impactful projects within your organization
- A recommendation letter from company founders

See example companies

Our Guarantee

Every student who graduates our training program is guaranteed an internship they are happy with or a full tuition refund.

Student Outcomes

What past cohorts walked away with.

College Admissions

In a survey of our 2024-2025 alumni, 44% were accepted to an Ivy League or US News top 20 National University. That is 6.8 times the general acceptance rate at those schools.

Meaningful Impact

Each student spearheads their own project. Past interns have built websites, led sales calls, created social accounts reaching a million+ customers, and helped raise $5 million+ in investment.

Future Internships

80% of students receive optional return offers. Many use their internship network to find their next one, or to start building the network they need to recruit for competitive fields like finance in college.

Frequently Asked Questions

About eligibility, matching, admissions, workload, and tuition.

Who is eligible to apply?

Any student who will be 15 or older by August 2026 can apply. International students must have demonstrated English fluency and be willing to adapt to a US time zone.

How does the process of matching students with companies work?

At the beginning of the program, we ask each student to provide a detailed account of their interests and skills. We then help them build a college-level resume showcasing their accomplishments and share it with companies in our network that are a match for the interests and skills they have selected. Companies choose which students to interview based on their resumes and which students to extend offers to based on their interview performance. Our team helps coordinate interviews for each student until they find a match they are excited about. In the rare event that a student is unhappy with their match, we will continue to search or issue a full tuition refund, according to their preference.

How does the admissions process work?

Our Early Application Deadline is July 6th, and our Regular Application Deadline is July 27th. All students will receive their admissions decisions via email by mid-August at the latest. If you do not receive an email about your application, this means we were unfortunately unable to grant admission. However, we highly encourage you to apply again in the future and will take note of students who show continued interest.

How much is the workload?

Students will generally be expected to contribute at most five hours per week during September and at most 10 hours per week on average once their internships start in October.

How much is the program tuition?

$1,950. This covers the cost of our program, including instructors, company sourcing & vetting, as well as our scholarship program for low-income students. We will be extending as many scholarships as possible and highly encourage you to apply regardless of your financial status! Please indicate in your application if you will need financial assistance to participate.

See the full FAQ