Why do internships in high school?
Before we jump into a long list of engineering internships for high school students in New York, it is important to understand why these opportunities could matter for your future. According to PRISM, a consultancy, 70% of students attending a US News top 50 University have completed at least one internship while in high school. These opportunities serve as a way to distinguish yourself in the admissions process by showing that you have gone out and verified your future goals through experience. Doing internships will help you enter college with a clearer idea of the professional environments you enjoy or don’t enjoy, which will make it easier for you to recruit into a job you love after graduation. Students who have done at least one internship in high school also typically have an easier time recruiting into college internships and pre-professional organizations such as finance or pre-law clubs.
How to Find Engineering Internships for High School Students in New York
The best way to find engineering internships for high school students in New York to apply to is through online search tools and lists. The StandOutSearch database provides the largest free resource that lists almost every internship program for the high school age group and allows you to search by interest area. MIT Admissions also provides a helpful list of High School Internships.
However, official programs tend to be very competitive, so if you are serious about finding a summer internship in high school, you should also prepare a cold outreach strategy. You can read more about how to form a cold outreach strategy to find a high school internship at the end of this article. We also include email templates to make finding an internship or research position through cold outreach less daunting.
10 Engineering Internships for High School Students in New York
Most of the engineering internships for high school students in New York below have an acceptance rate of 20% or lower, given that there are many more high school students looking for internships relative to official programs that provide them. We recommend choosing at least five opportunities to apply to. If you see an opportunity that excites you, take a moment to write the deadline on your calendar!
Ages: 15-19
Location: Virtual
Timeline: Summer, Spring, Fall, or Winter
Deadline: Various Deadlines
StandOut Connect is a program created thanks to investment from UChicago’s Polsky Center for Innovation that matches high school students with internships in their interest area. Students interview with potential mentors who are leaders and innovators within their area of interest until they are hired for a two-month internship. Many students then receive optional return offers to continue with their internship for as long as they would like.
Ages: 15 - 18
Location: New York City
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: April
The program aims to recruit and train a student community with little or no access to high quality STEM education. Each student is assigned a research project and mentors (graduate students & faculty) to undertake cutting-edge research with a focus in climate, water, weather, ecosystem services, social, and environmental justice. Additionally, over the course of seven to eight-weeks, each summer, the students participate in various professional development activities, technical workshops in remote sensing, python, and geographical information system (GIS) conducted by dedicated faculty, educational field trips, and improv and public speaking workshops by Irondale- a local theater group that helps inculcate STEM and research identity early-on for students who may otherwise not consider STEM as even a potential career opportunity.
Ages: Freshman - Senior
Location: Buffalo, New York
Timeline: TBD
Deadline: TBD
The Transportation Camp is a highly competitive scholarship program that provides 30 high school students with a great chance to investigate careers and educational opportunities in today's transportation industry and beyond. Students participate in discussions, hands-on design competitions, and trips to study local and regional transportation hot spots. They also spend time with industry role models and a diverse group of students.
Ages: Rising Junior or Senior
Location: Buffalo, New York
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: TBD
This camp is designed to provide a memorable and exciting experience through hands-on and digitally simulated activities. It provides a great opportunity to discover a passion for chemical engineering while considering college majors
Ages: Rising Junior or Senior
Location: Ithaca, New York
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: February
CATALYST Academy is a branch of the Cornell Engineering High School Outreach Program. It is a one-week residential program for rising high school juniors and seniors who desire to learn about engineering in the context of an authentic college experience. It is designed to develop literacy around engineering as a major course of study, showcase career and graduate school pathways in engineering, and demystify the college admissions process. Scholars spend a week on the Cornell campus, living in dormitories and networking with current Cornell Engineering students, faculty, and fellow participants from across the country. Participants attend daily classes in one area of study led by a Cornell Engineering faculty member. They work cooperatively under the supervision of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students to execute and present a research project. Scholars also participate in nine field sessions across our engineering majors, as well as a field session focused on the admissions process.
Ages: Rising Sophomore - Senior
Location: Buffalo, NY
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: TBD
The UB/National Grid Camp provides an opportunity for students with an aptitude in math and science to learn more about careers in STEM and experience campus life. Students will spend three nights in North Campus dorms during which they will be presented with an engineering challenge to solve as a team. The program will also include a field trip to National Grid, a business lunch with National Grid as well as UB professionals, and UB laboratory hours.
7. Hk Maker Lab
Ages: 15 - 18
Location: New York City
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: February
The Hk Maker Lab is an intensive six-week summer program to learn the foundations of design. Focusing on addressing a health problem, participants will design, prototype and test a biomedical device and develop an associated business plan. The program will culminate in a presentation to leading executives from the biomedical community. The Hk Maker Lab projects might then be incubated using the state-of-the-art facilities at Harlem Biospace.
Ages: 16 - 18
Location: New York City
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: January
New York Bioforce is a workforce development internship program that provides NYC high school students with hands-on lab training designed to meet the needs of biomedical research labs, biotech start-ups, and biopharmaceutical companies. During the program, students will receive 100 hours of research training, ranging from hands-on biomedical research skills like PCR, gel electrophoresis, and microscopy to science communication and networking skills.
Ages: 16 - 17
Location: Stony Brook, NY
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: February
The Simons Summer Research Program gives academically talented, motivated high school students the opportunity to engage in hands-on research in science, math, or engineering at Stony Brook University. Simons Fellows work with distinguished faculty mentors, learn laboratory techniques and tools, become part of active research teams, and experience life at a research university.
Ages: 14 - 18
Location: New York City
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Contact for deadline
DCAS has partnered with the Department of Education (DOE) to expand the Automotive High School Internship program. These paid year-round and summer internships provide public high school students with valuable hands-on experience maintaining high-profile City vehicles, and the unique opportunity to learn from leading city fleet experts and professionals who service the largest municipal fleet in the United States.
Cold Outreach Strategy for High School Internships
If the opportunities listed above don’t turn out to be a fit, the next step to finding engineering internships for high school students in New York is to launch a cold outreach strategy. This may seem intimidating at first, but the guide below should make it much more simple. As an added note, please exercise caution when reaching out to professionals you don’t know. It is always safest to interview or meet virtually.
How to Find Companies to Reach Out to for a High School Internship
Use LinkedIn to find small companies where you can help with skills such as social media, coding, content/grant writing, or graphic design. Smaller companies that need more hands on deck will be the most likely to hire high-school-aged students. Try to find personal connections with the professionals you reach out to, such as being from the same state originally or liking the same sports team.
How to Find Professors to Reach Out to for a High School Research Position
You can use online university staff directories to find professors to reach out to for research positions. Note that if you are looking for a remote research position with a professor, you should be aware that these opportunities tend to be harder to come by. Professors typically have high school students help with more manual laboratory tasks such as washing beakers or running equipment and usually do not have very much use for interns at a high school education level within a remote setting. The exception is if you are doing computational research, which generally requires introductory knowledge of Python or R to parse large datasets. You should be able to learn Python or R on your own for free within a few months using resources such as Coursera’s R Programming Course or Python for Everybody.
How to Structure and Send Outreach Emails
For a successful cold-outreach strategy, aim to send at least 50 emails to potential internship providers. Be sure to include a link to your resume, which should be no more than one page while you are in high school. UChicago provides a helpful free resume template and guide. We recommend including your resume as a Google Drive link because including it as a PDF will sometimes negatively impact the deliverability of your email. However, be sure to check that the sharing settings on the document allow anyone with the link to view its contents. It can also be a good idea to include work samples in your resume, such as the link to a website you designed, a social media account you manage, or your GitHub profile.
Email Template for Finding a High School Internship
If you are unsure how to structure your outreach emails to potential internship providers, here are some basic templates you can customize to your needs.
Template for Finding an Internship
Subject: Student Reaching Out
Dear Mr./Ms.____,
I hope you are having a great day! My name is [your name], and I am a rising [grade] at [your school]. I read about your company on LinkedIn and found the concept quite interesting. For context, [briefly state how the company relates to your interests or experience]. I was wondering if you might be looking for interns. I know I would have a great deal to learn from working with you, and I would love to contribute in any way I can. I have included my resume here. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Template for Finding a Research Position
Subject: Student Reaching Out
Dear Professor/Dr. ____,
I hope you are having a great day! My name is [your name], and I am a rising [grade] at [your school]. I recently read your paper on [restate the abstract] in [name of publication] and was quite intrigued by [part you found interesting]. I was wondering if I might be able to intern for you over this summer. [Elaborate on your relevant skills and experience and why you are passionate about the field].
I have included my resume here. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Conclusion
Whether you are applying to established programs or launching a cold outreach strategy, the name of the game when looking for an engineering high school internship or research position is perseverance. These opportunities can be extremely difficult to secure, but most high school students find it worth it in the end to get a head start on building their careers. If you found this article helpful, don’t forget to save it for later or share it with a friend. Good luck on your internship search journey!
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