12 Internships for High School Students in NYC (New York City)
If you are a high school student in New York, you can consider getting an internship to enhance your college application!
An internship allows you to explore career prospects in your preferred field. Moreover, interacting with mentors or peers will allow you to gain benefits for future job prospects or even letters of recommendations! Lastly, participating in an internship will show your dedication towards the subject as you commit to a program outside school hours.
In this blog, we have curated a diverse list of internships based in New York City. The subjects range from public policy to journalism and even urban biology! Each internship on this list will allow you to gain hands-on experience and understand the real-life applications of your preferred subject.
Note: You can also explore our blogs on high school research opportunities in New York and programs for high school students in Brooklyn.
The NYC Office of the Mayor offers internships to high school students who are interested in the functioning of city government and policy. You can apply to the department of your choice and, if selected, will work with that department for the duration of your internship.
You can expect to collaborate with full-time staff and work on various projects, including conducting research, attending meetings, managing incoming inquiries, analyzing data, drafting briefings, staffing events, etc.
Through the bi-weekly Speaker Series, you also learn more about the inner workings of the City government. Guest speakers include Deputy Mayors, Commissioners, Program Directors, and other senior staff. You will also get a chance to develop a service project with other interns! The goal is to design and execute a project to impact the most deserving communities and uplift New Yorkers in need.
Cost: No cost; a salary of $15/hour is provided.
Location: New York City
Application Deadline:
Summer term (2024) - Not specified; however, the tentative date is Mid-March based on last year’s data.
Fall-Sping Term (2023-2024) - August 11th, 2023
Program Dates:
Summer term (2024) – June through August
Fall/Spring terms (2023-2024) - October 2nd, 2023 - April 19th, 2024.
Eligibility:
Must be 16 years of age or older.
Must be enrolled in high school or accepted to an undergraduate degree problem.
Note. For the Fall/Spring Term, you must be a New York City resident and be enrolled in high school.
NASA’s Office of STEM Engagements provides internship opportunities at all their locations around America. Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Study is located in New York and is open for high school internships! You can access their database on internships here (you will have to filter through the database to find opportunities open for high school study and also conduct virtual internships; you will gain the opportunity to experience real-world applications of aerospace engineering. Students interested in engineering or astrophysics can consider this program as it’s an excellent value-add for college applications, owing to the reputation and prestige of this program and NASA.
Cost: No cost; stipend provided
Location: Varies, different for each internship offered
Application Deadline: Varies from internship to internship
Program Dates: Varies from internship to internship, but should be in one of these three cohorts -
Fall - from late August/early September to mid-December (16 weeks)
Spring - from mid-January to early May (16 weeks)
Summer - from late May/early June to August (10 weeks)
Selection Rate: Highly Selective
Eligibility:
High school students
Must be a U.S. Citizen
Have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA.
Ladder Internship is a selective program for high school students to work with start-ups on engineering and other topics. The program is run by Harvard alums and works with companies from places like the YCombinator and Stanford.
Ladder Startups work in fields including technology, machine learning and AI, finance, environmental science and sustainability, business and marketing, healthcare and medicine, media and journalism, and more. You can explore all the options here on their application form.
As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project and present their work at the end of their internship. In addition to working closely with their manager from the startup, each intern will also work with a Ladder Coach throughout their internship - the Ladder Coach serves as a second mentor and a sounding board, guiding students through the internship and helping you navigate the startup environment. Note that as a Ladder Intern, you will engage in a coaching+work-based model - a component that sets it apart from most internships in this list. The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long.
Cost: $1490 (Financial Aid Available)
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Application Deadline: Applications for cohorts in June, September, December, and February (4 cohorts throughout the year)
Program Dates: 8 weeks, June to August; cohorts run year-round
Selection Rate: Selective (<30% acceptance rate Summer 2023)
Eligibility:
Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week for 8-12 weeks.
Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
BRAINYAC is an opportunity for high schoolers to conduct hands-on research in neuroscience in a Columbia laboratory. Through this program, you will gain opportunities to connect with real scientists and learn critical skills to work in a research environment.
As an intern, you will be matched with a Columbia neuroscientist mentor who will guide you through a research project. At the end of the program, you can gain an enhanced understanding of how laboratory research leads to transformative discovery, exposure to a professional academic career, and more robust fundamentals in neuroscience. An example of past projects is Edgar Garcia, who looked into the function of specialized neurons that help relay sensory information from the outside world.
Note. You can only apply to BRAINYAC if you are nominated by their partner programs, namely S-PREP, Lang Youth Medical, Double Discovery Center, Columbia Secondary School, and BioBus.
Cost: No cost; stipend provided
Location: Columbia laboratories
Application Deadline: While the deadline for 2024 is not stated, applications open in Fall 2023.
Program Dates: 5 weeks during the summer.
Selection Rate: Selective
Eligibility:
Must be sophomores or juniors in high school.
Applicants must reside in New York City, but preference is given to students in Upper Manhattan and the South Bronx.
The Met offers paid internships for sophomores or juniors who reside in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut. The program allows students to connect one-on-one or in small cohorts with Museum professionals in various fields.
Each internship involved 40 hours of department-specific work, and the placement will be based on personal interest, availability, and the department’s internship project. Previous fields have involved museum conservation, marketing, editorial, and more.
One example is working alongside the Design department, which will allow you to work directly with exhibitions and galleries! You can gain experience working alongside esteemed designers and at prestigious events. However, the application process is highly selective and involves rounds of interviews.
Cost: No cost; stipend provided (stipend is commensurate with New York State minimum wage law)
Location: The Met
Application Deadline: March end
Program Dates: June end to mid-August
Selection Rate: Selective
Eligibility:
Sophomores or Juniors who live or attend school in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut.
City Limit is New York City's oldest nonprofit investigative news agency that attempts to empower the youth and train students in public service journalism. Interns are trained in the essential tenets of reporting and news writing. This includes research, interviewing, exploring investigative techniques, media ethics, photojournalism, and more.
Through this program, you can work closely with City Limits in order to report locally
focused news stories about important New York City issues, particularly from underrepresented communities.
A unique feature of CLARIFY is its two cohorts - an English-Language Cohort and a bilingual cohort for Spanish and English speakers. If Spanish is your native language, City Limits encourages you to explore the bilingual cohort to use your abilities to amplify the voices of the unheard!
Some topics previously covered by CLARIFY students include the New York housing crisis, interviews on the freedom of the press, and news on strikes. Read the previous articles of CLARIFY alums here!
Cost: No cost + stipend provided ($1,000)
Location: CUNY Brooklyn or CUNY York’s College Campuses
Application Deadline(Summer 2023): June 15, 2023
Program Dates (Summer 2023): July 17 - July 27
Selection Rate: Selective
Eligibility:
Open to rising juniors or seniors (seniors who have graduated as of June 2023 are also welcome to apply).
Students must reside in New York.
The APEC Field Biology internship is a chance for high school students to explore field research and urban biology. Each internship is segregated into a semester, with 6 classes per semester and 3 seasonal semesters (Spring, Summer, and Fall).
As an intern, you will learn how to study the biodiversity of various ecosystems, as well as learn how to identify local birds, invertebrates, and plants. This is a great opportunity to work with tools such as field guides, chest waders, and seining nets in a professional context.
Apart from field research, an added benefit is hands-on experiments and the opportunity to work alongside expert guest speakers. If you are a student interested in zoology or biology, we encourage you to apply!
Cost: $125 (+$25 for any materials)
Location: Alleypond, NY
Application Deadline 2023):
Summer Semester - June 1st, 2023 (Accepted on rolling basis until June 9th, 2023)
Fall Semester - September 3rd, 2023
Spring Semester - February 15th, 2023
Program Dates (2023)
Spring Semester - March 18th - May 6th, 2023
Summer Semester - July 5th - August 9th
Fall Semester - To be announced
Eligibility:
Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors in high school.
While not a traditional internship, the Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program (HOPP) offers a Summer Student Program where students can conduct independent research while participating in extracurricular activities, training, and other possibilities.
Students are guided by a postdoctoral fellow, graduate student, or research technician during the 8-week program. Once the program concludes, students present their projects at a poster symposium. Applications for the 2023 program are open till January 6, 2023.
Cost: No cost to participate (Note. You will have to cover transportation and accommodation costs)
Location: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York
Application Deadline (Summer 2023): February 10th, 2023
Program Dates (Summer 2023): June 28th to August 23rd, 2023.
Eligibility:
Students must complete 9th grade by June 2023 (For Summer 2023)
Must be 14 or older by June 28, 2023 (For Summer 2023)
A minimum of a 3.5 G.P.A in STEM subjects
The Manhattan District Attorney’s High School Internship Program is a 6 -week internship opportunity that provides students with an insider’s view of the criminal justice system.
In this program, you will have the opportunity to engage in workshops and discussions about topics such as criminal justice, police brutality, civic engagement, leadership, and more. Moreover, you will participate in a series of presentations and conversations in order to build a foundational understanding of how policies are developed and implemented.
If you are interested in criminology, public policy, sociology, politics, or any legal career, applying to this program allows you to explore prospective careers in these fields!
Cost: No cost; stipend provided ($175/week)
Location: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, NY
Application Deadline (Summer 2023): March 28th, 2023
Program Dates (Summer 2023): July 10th - August 25th, 2023
Eligibility:
Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors in high school.
Must live in or attend school in Manhattan.
Wave Hill (a public horticulture garden and cultural center) conducts a Forest Project to engage New York City youth in ecological restoration and urban ecology. Through the program, interns will form small crews and develop restoration plans for their assigned woodland sites.
In the program, you will be assigned to a team under an experienced crew leader to participate in woodland restoration and research. Previous work conducted by interns includes removing invasive species, shorting up eroded slopes, and documenting the restoration process of disturbed woodland.
Interns also take a college course on restoring New York City’s Natural Areas and work on group projects involving data collection and field research contributing to their coursework. An additional benefit is attending guest lectures to gain exposure to various careers in conservation sciences!
Cost: No cost; stipend provided ($2,275)
Location: New York City
Application Deadline (Summer 2024): The deadline is yet to be specified; however, applications open in January 2024.
Program Dates (2023): July to August.
Eligibility:
Must be enrolled in high school at the time of application.
16 years old by July 5th, 2023 (for Summer 2023).
Must be a New York City resident, eligible to work in the US.
Must be able to commit to the schedule of July-August, Monday to Friday (9 AM to 5 PM).
The New York City High School Law Internship Program aims to connect interested high school students in the city with legal employers. The employers include law firms, corporations, non-profit organizations, and government agencies. The internship offers you practical training, panel discussions, and networking events to help you prepare for a career in law.
Internship duties may include assisting paralegals, filing paperwork, maintaining records, and organizing documents. In addition to the on-the-job experience, you will also receive exposure to the legal profession through development programs offered by your legal employers as part of the internship program.
Cost: No cost; stipend provided (Pay range has previously been between $15 and $21/ hour)
Location: New York City
Application deadline (Summer 2023): January 29th, 2023
Program dates (Summer 2023): June 27th - September 4th, 2023
Note. These dates are subject to change.
Eligibility: NYC public high school students
The Brooklyn Museum Apprentice Program is a year-round internship where students can learn about museum education while creating lessons for audiences of all ages.
As a museum apprentice, you can expect to:
Meet artists and curators to understand the Brooklyn Museum’s collections.
Discuss critical topics in the field of museum education, e.g., working with the public school system and the role of museums in social justice movements.
Assist with family programs such as F.A.M (Family Art Magic)
Develop tours and teach summer camp groups.
Through this internship, you can build public speaking, research, and lesson-planning skills by conducting tours! Moreover, interacting with curators and artists is highly beneficial if you are looking to explore careers in art!
Cost: No cost; stipend provided ($15-16/hour)
Location: Brooklyn Museum, NY
Application Deadline (Winter 2023 - Summer 2024): 8th October 2023
Program Dates (2023 - 2024): November 2023 - August 2024
Note. The timings for November - June and July - August are different. You can view the detailed schedule here!
Eligibility: Open to all NYC high school students between the ages of 14-19
Bonus - Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you are passionate about research, you could also consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, a selective online high school program for students I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 2100 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.