9 Internships for High School Students in Pennsylvania
If you’re a high school student in Pennsylvania looking for internship opportunities, this blog is for you! High school internships help you explore concepts beyond your school curriculum and apply critical thinking and analytical skills to real-world situations. Participating in internships can add value to your portfolio and CV and help you navigate college SOPs and applications. Whether you’re passionate about a certain industry or still figuring out what career path to choose, an internship can help you make informed decisions about your future academic and career prospects.
Moreover, an internship will allow you to hone your skills and learn new ones while networking with like-minded students and industry professionals. You may also find mentorship under experts who can help enhance your overall work experience! While most of the internships in our list are on-site and require you to be present for the entirety of the duration a couple of them are remote allowing you the flexibility to work from anywhere!
Here are 9 of the best internships for high school students in Pennsylvania spanning various fields such as arts, medicine, journalism, marketing, and more!
Cost/Stipend: Free; Students are provided a stipend of $17.53/hour.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in March.
Dates: June 19–August 16, 2024
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors in the Philadelphia region can apply.
The Bloomberg Arts Internship (BAI) by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is a paid program that pairs rising high school juniors with local arts and culture organizations. During the program, you will gain real-world work experience while participating in professional development sessions, cultural immersion activities, and post-secondary readiness workshops. At BAI, you’ll get to develop critical professional skills that will prepare you for the workforce while supporting the host city's vibrant creative industries.
You will be expected to work up to 35 hours per week. The Summer program is followed by the 2024-2025 School Year Program (BAISY) where select interns who participated in the summer program can continue their internship from October through May for up to 8 hours per week. This program will also help you develop confidence, professionalism, and public speaking skills. You can check out all the available opportunities for high school students here.
Cost: Starts at $1,990. Financial aid is available.)
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort. The upcoming deadline for the fall cohort is August 4, 2024.
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year. The upcoming fall cohort begins on September 16, 2024.
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program for ambitious high school students! In the program, you work with a high-growth start-up on an internship. Start-ups that offer internships range across a variety of industries from tech/deep tech, and AI/ML to health tech, marketing, journalism, consulting, and more. You can explore all the options here on their application form.
Ladder’s start-ups are high-growth companies on average raising over a million dollars. Past founders have included YCombinator alums, founders raising over 30 million dollars, or founders who previously worked at Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. In the program, interns work closely with their managers and a Ladder Coach on real-world projects and present their work to the company. Here is the application form.
Interns are offered one-on-one training in communication, time management, and other such valuable skills and will also have the opportunity to attend group training sessions with other interns in their cohort. The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long.
Cost/Stipend: Free; Students are eligible to receive a stipend of $1,800 for participating in this program if their household qualifies for the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program for Pennsylvania.
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in January.
Dates: The 6-week program typically starts in June.
Eligibility: Students must:
Be over 16 years old by the program start date.
Be interested in learning about biomedical research and currently in their sophomore or junior year of high school (i.e. no rising sophomores or graduating seniors).
Be a resident of the local southwest Pennsylvania region.
Magee-Womens Research Institute’s High School Summer Internship Program provides students with the opportunity to participate in basic, translational, or clinical scientific research to stimulate interest in biomedical research as a potential career. During this 6-week program, you will have the opportunity to work on your research project under the guidance of an investigator and their staff at MWRI or Magee-Womens Hospital.
In addition, you will attend informal Lunch & Learn sessions, during which investigators will discuss biomedical science as a career from their perspectives and journeys in the field. You will end the program by presenting your research findings via a PowerPoint presentation to fellow interns, MWRI faculty and staff, and other invitees at the annual High School Internship Presentation Day.
The Institute includes basic, translational, and clinical faculty researchers from the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, as well as from other departments at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Swanson School of Engineering. You can check out the recent research projects here.
Cost/Stipend: Free; Unpaid.
Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in March.
Dates: July 8–August 1, 2024
Eligibility: High school juniors who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents can apply. On occasion, well-qualified sophomores are accepted. Those applying must have taken chemistry and/or physics courses.
The Penn Summer Science Initiative (PSSI) by the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter is a four-week summer program for local high school students interested in materials science and engineering. This program includes formal lectures from Penn faculty and affiliated researchers, workshops, lab report writing seminars, projects, hands-on activities, and field trips to both industrial and Penn facilities.
During the program, you will get exposure to a variety of materials characterization techniques, such as scanning electron and optical microscopies, thermal analysis techniques, mechanical testing, and x-ray diffraction. The program will run from approximately 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday. You will be expected to work on reports, projects, and other assignments outside of program hours.
Please note that you will be expected to work on reports, projects, and other assignments outside of program hours. Typically 24-28 students are accepted into the program.
Cost/Stipend: Free; Unpaid
Location: William Tennent High School, Warminster, PA (spring session) | Science Education Research Center (SERC), Philadelphia, PA (summer session).
Application Deadline: Open call for applications. Students generally apply in October for the spring session, and in March for the summer session.
Dates: Spring sessions are held on Saturdays in January–April and summer sessions take place during the week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) in July–August. Five-hour sessions (Session A: 8:30 am-1:30 pm or Session B: 12 pm-5 pm) are offered during the spring and summer.
Eligibility: All high school students from Philadelphia and the surrounding counties are eligible to apply.
The Teen Research Internship Program (TRIP) is a rigorous lab-based course for high school students motivated to explore their interests in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM). The mission of TRIP is to foster an enthusiasm for science by offering students a chance to do hypothesis-driven research and hands-on learning in a lab.
The program is conducted in three phases: Project Design, Experimentation, and Presentation. Throughout these phases, you will learn how to form creative questions, use lab equipment, and communicate your findings. Throughout the course, you will use multiple forms of media to share your experiences and work with mentors to explore careers surrounding science and medicine. At the end of the program, you will present your work to the scientific community, your family, and your peers in a scientific symposium.
Beyond the lab, you will also receive one-on-one mentoring with Fox Chase faculty; learn team-building and leadership skills, and become part of a group of driven and inquisitive students.
Cost/Stipend: Free; Students are provided a stipend.
Location: Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in January.
Dates: June 18–August 16, 2024
Eligibility: Students currently enrolled in high school, from the greater Philadelphia area, including Camden, NJ, may apply.
The Monell Science Apprenticeship Program’s mission is to stimulate an interest in biomedical science or medicine as careers – particularly in groups that are typically underrepresented in science.
This apprenticeship program includes seven weeks of paid full-time structured research activity with a Monell scientist and a public conference where you will present your research to scientific staff, family members, and friends. During the program, you will get to participate in enrichment activities including lectures on scientific topics; public speaking and written communication; and ethical principles guiding human and animal research. You will also get opportunities to learn about different careers in medicine and science.
This apprenticeship provides an unspecified stipend for an expected 35 hours of work per week. MSAP is highly competitive and about 10% or less of applicants are accepted. On average, out of approximately 200 applications, only around 18 to 24 students are accepted into the program. You can check the various research opportunities available under MSAP here.
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified) + travel awards & daily lunch are also provided.
Location: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Application Deadline: Not mentioned
Dates: 6-8 weeks in the summer (conducted over two consecutive summers)
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors nominated by partner schools or community-based agencies can apply.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia conducts the CHOP-RISES program to encourage interest and science confidence, particularly in terms of contribution to child health research and development. It hosts the following two iterations of the program:
CHOP-RISES I: This 6-week internship for rising juniors trains selected interns in host labs, teaching them basic lab techniques and the usage of research in improving child health and wellness. Mentoring, career exposure, and interactive curriculum are included. Interns are expected to give final presentations as well.
CHOP-RISES II: This is an 8-week internship for rising seniors to train them in research and lab techniques, using which they complete independent research projects. Mentorship training, career seminars, clinical shadowing, and final presentations are part of the programming.
Both programs run Monday-Thursday and occur on two consecutive summers during students' rising junior and senior years.
Cost/Stipend: Free; Students are provided a stipend of $1000.
Location: The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in March.
Dates: July 15–August 8, 2024 (Mondays to Thursdays)
Eligibility: Students who are at least 16 years old and have completed at least one high school science course are eligible to apply.
Wistar’s High School Fellowship in Biomedical Research is a competitive program that will only accept 15 students this year. This four-week program offers you the opportunity to take part in hands-on research projects in cancer biology, vaccine development, and infectious diseases. You will spend time training in cutting-edge biomedical laboratory techniques and contributing to real projects at the institute in its state-of-the-art facilities.
During the program, you will be taught to read scientific literature and encouraged to explore multiple careers in biomedical research. At the end of the course, you will present your work to your peers and mentors. Apart from the stipend, you will receive SEPTA passes to defray the cost of traveling to and from the Institute. Students from underrepresented backgrounds, including ethnic or racial minorities, those with disabilities, or those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are strongly encouraged by the institute to apply.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; Internships may or may not provide a stipend.
Location: Penn State College of Medicine (PSCOM), Hershey, PA.
Application Deadline: Applications are currently being accepted. No deadline has been specified.
Dates: Flexible dates, based on which research mentor you select while applying for the internship opportunity.
Eligibility: The applicant must:
Be a high school student.
Be a resident of the United States.
Be sponsored/supervised by a member of the College of Medicine faculty. This faculty laboratory supervisor is responsible for ensuring this procedure is completed and that the student's activities are closely supervised at all times.
Penn State College of Medicine provides high school students with the opportunity to explore immersive biomedical research internships and observation opportunities. You can choose brief 1-2 day shadowing experiences or extended internships spanning weeks or months. As an intern, you will dive into hands-on learning in the laboratory. Your role will involve shadowing and observing the daily activities of a research mentor, gaining insight into their methodologies, experiments, and approaches to biomedical research. This hands-on observation will also allow you to witness laboratory procedures, experimental setups, data collection methods, and analysis techniques firsthand.
Note: Before applying, students should seek a potential research supervisor. To explore faculty research interests at Penn State College of Medicine, students can browse the Penn State Research Database. This involves entering a topic of interest in the search bar or exploring departments for faculty profiles and research areas.
If you’re looking to gain research experience alongside your internship, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs!
This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper on a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from.
You can find the application link here
One other option - Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you would like to participate in a rigorous research program open to high schoolers, you should also consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, a selective online high school program for students founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD 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.
Image Source: UPenn logo