13 Internships for High School Students in Boston
If you are a high school student gearing up for college applications and your future career, then enriching your profile with internships can set you apart. And if you’re such a high schooler in Boston, you’re in luck. This blog covers 13 of the best internships the city has to offer to high school students, including a few virtual ones.
Internships can not only help deepen your academic interests, but can also showcase your commitment and initiative to prospective colleges. An internship experience is an opportunity to work and learn hands-on, build your knowledge and skill set, and figure out which field is the best fit for you. Not to mention, an internship exposes you to professional environments in the real world, allows you to interact with and learn from industry experts, and build a strong network of professionals and peers.
On your search for the best internship for you in Boston, this curated list can help you get started!
Subject Areas: Technology, engineering, AL, ML, healthcare, health tech, sustainability, media, journalism, business, marketing and more.
Location: Virtual.
Eligibility: High school students able to work for 5-15 hours/week for 8-16 weeks
Application Deadline: Summer cohort (regular admission 1): April 14, 2024 | Summer cohort (regular admission 2): May 12, 2024
Dates: The summer 2024 cohort starts on June 3 and runs till August.
Cost: Starts at $1,990 (financial aid available)
Ladder Internships is a program founded and run by Harvard alumni. Pairing high school students with startups and nonprofits across the world, the program selects around 100 interns to work on real-world projects in a virtual setup. This program allows you to choose the field you wish to work in, from a wide range of industries including engineering, technology, AI, medicine, health care, media, marketing, business and more. Each intern will be mentored by their startup manager and by a Ladder coach, who serves as a second mentor, guiding them through the internship.
Once selected, you will work on your deliverables and present your work at the end of the internship. A few partner companies you may work with include IPMD, Billion Dollar Startup Ideas, Softenmind, and Fintech Launch. The program includes individual and group professional training sessions as well! You may also opt for a longer research internship for sessions with a research mentor, writing coach, and publication specialist.
2. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Today’s Interns, Tomorrow’s Professionals (TIP) Internship Program
Subject Areas: Finance, technology, business, economic research, community development, marketing and more
Location: Federal Reserve Plaza, Boston, MA
Eligibility: High school students who have completed their sophomore year in Boston Public Schools
Application Deadline: March/April
Dates: June-August (exact duration and dates may vary)
Stipend: Paid (amount unspecified)
This annual paid summer internship program is a great option for high school students looking for a developmentally rich first summer work experience. This internship places an emphasis on job coaching and skill-building workshops, ideal for students interested in "first-job" experience like problem solving and conflict resolution. At the end of this internship, depending on available openings and individual interest, effort, and performance, you also may be selected for an extended 3-year year-round internship program. TIP aims to explore avenues that could address barriers to the economic success and stability of lower-income youth.
Throughout the internship, you will be entrusted with real-world projects and tasks, enabling you to apply your classroom knowledge to practical situations, thus fostering your problem-solving skills and analytical thinking. One of the distinctive features of the TIP internship program is the strong emphasis on networking and professional development. You will have access to experienced mentors and professionals who offer guidance and valuable insights.
Interested students should apply through the Boston Private Industry Council (BPIC).
3. MIT’s Research Science Institute (RSI)
Subject Areas: STEM
Location: MIT, Cambridge and Boston, MA
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors with high test scores
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in December.
Program dates: July-August
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship.
RSI is a highly prestigious internship that accepts 100 highly accomplished high school students from across the world every year. This program combines on-campus coursework in scientific theory with off-campus research in science and technology. In the first week, students participate in intensive STEM classes with experienced professors. The following 5 weeks are dedicated to the research internship wherein students receive mentorship from researchers and scientists.
As part of this internship, students will learn about current trends and literature in the field, formulate and execute a research plan, and deliver oral and written presentations on their projects.
4. Boston University’s RISE Internship
Subject Areas: STEM
Location: Boston University, Boston, MA
Eligibility: Domestic high school juniors
Application Deadline: Applications usually close in February.
Dates: July 1, 2024 - August 9, 2024 (residential students begin a day earlier)
Cost: $5,350 (tuition) + $3,120/$3,426 (room and board, if applicable) + additional fees. Need-based financial aid is available.
Boston University’s (BU) Research in Science & Engineering (RISE) program is a solid program that gives high school students a chance to conduct laboratory research in a wide range of STEM fields, under the guidance of accomplished professors and researchers. RISE offers two tracks that students can choose from:
Internship: Interns will spend 40 hours/week working on research projects in areas like biology, biomedical engineering, astronomy, computer science, chemistry, physics, neuroscience, psychology, public health, and more.
Practicum: Participants will conduct group research under a BU instructor. The practicum involves daily 2-hour lectures and 4-hour lab sessions. The focus of this track is on computational neurobiology.
A Poster Symposium is conducted at the end of the program where students present their projects – this is for both tracks.
5. Summer Teen Internship Program at the New England Aquarium
Subject Areas: Marine science, climate science, marine biology, zoology, aquatic science, science communication
Location: New England Aquarium, Boston, MA
Eligibility: High school students at least 14 years old and residing in Boston and Cambridge
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in late March.
Dates: June-August (7 weeks: 1 week of training + 6 weeks of work)
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified)
The New England Aquarium’s Summer Teen Internship Program provides students with extensive training in marine science and climate science along with a chance to improve their public speaking and communication skills. Interns are required to participate in weekly professional development and ocean advocacy courses alongside a week of training and 6 weeks of work in one of the following roles:
Visitor Services Assistant: This involves greeting visitors, providing educational information, and offering additional customer service.
Conservation Learning Aquarium Guide: As part of this role, interns will facilitate activities, interact with groups, help interpret exhibits, and provide insight into animals and ocean conservation.
6. Architecture/Design High School Internship by Boston Society for Architecture (BSA)
Subject Areas: Architecture and design
Location: Local architecture firms in Boston, MA
Eligibility: High school students attending Boston Public Schools
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in March/April.
Dates: July 8, 2024 - August 16, 2024 (6 weeks)
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified)
BSA’s Architecture/Design High School Internship is a chance for public high school students to explore architecture as a career by interning with local firms. The architecture firms differ from each other in size, focus, and approach, allowing interns to choose an internship experience based on their specific interests, while also expanding the range of experience if they choose to reapply in the following years.
Interns will get to assist professionals in formulating designs and planning and undertaking projects. Interns will also receive access to a Summer Fridays series to receive design education through firms like Sasaki Foundation and The Designery/YouthBuild Boston.
Interested applicants should apply through the Boston Public Industry Council (BPIC).
7. High School Apprenticeship Challenge by Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
Subject Areas: STEM, life sciences
Location: Boston, Brockton, New Bedford, Worcester, and Cambridge, MA
Eligibility: High school students who are at least 16 years old and attending school in Massachusetts
Application Deadline: This information is not available at the moment.
Dates: Any 6 weeks between May 1, 2024 and April 30, 2025
Stipend: $17 per hour
The High School Apprenticeship Challenge provides paid internship opportunities to underrepresented and low-income high school students in Massachusetts. The program provides internship opportunities to around 100 students every year by reimbursing host companies up to $4,080 per intern.
Interns are placed with host companies, where they work for 6 weeks (either full-time or part-time) and participate in research, projects, skill-building activities, and hands-on learning experiences. Additionally, the program offers a pre-internship lab training session for some school districts, where students can work on developing their biotechnology/biomedical and professional skills.
8. Camp Zon by Zon Lab (Boston Children’s Hospital)
Subject Areas: Medicine, health care, cancer biology, blood development
Location: Virtual + some in-person components at Zon Lab, Boston, MA
Eligibility: High school students or rising college freshmen at least 16 years of age and residing in Massachusetts
Application Deadline: April 14, 2024
Dates: July 15, 2024 - July 26, 2024 (2 weeks)
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified)
Camp Zon allows selected interns to learn about and carry out research using zebrafish as the model organism. Interns are divided into teams to design research projects to study anemia. This includes formulating a hypothesis, designing experiments, and analyzing the data. Scientists at the Zon Lab will then perform those experiments live, with teams then getting a chance to present their research findings at the end of the internship.
Interns will further attend facility tours, mentoring sessions, career panels, lectures ranging from basic biology to clinical translation of research, and tutorials on reading scientific literature and coding.
9. Teen Jobs by Artists for Humanity
Subject Areas: Painting, 3D design, graphic design, creative technology (animation and coding), video production, and photography
Location: Boston, MA
Eligibility: High school students or teens at least 14 years of age, attending a Boston Public School, and/or residing in Boston
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: July 8, 2024 - August 22, 2024 (7 weeks)
Stipend: Paid (amount not mentioned) after the first 36 hours of unpaid training
Artists for Humanity hires teens to work alongside mentors on real-world projects for their clients. Based on your interests and preferences, you will be placed in one of Artists for Humanity’s creative studios—painting, 3D design, graphic design, creative technology (animation and coding), video production, and photography.
Interns will work with various media in collaboration with professional artists and designers with a chance to learn new skills and contribute to impactful projects. Interns will receive initial unpaid training (including demonstrations and basic principles of art and design) and will then move on to paid work in one of the studios.
10. Boston Public Library’s Teen Volunteer Program
Subject Areas: Library studies, library management
Location: Boston, MA
Eligibility: High school students (grades 9-12)
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: Fall, spring, and summer
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship.
If you are interested in working at a library, the Boston Public Library’s Teen Volunteer Program is a wonderful opportunity to learn new skills, improve communication and customer service skills, and learn about the functioning and operations of a library. Some tasks you may be involved in include creating online book lists, shelving, assisting in weeding book projects, putting up displays, locating missing books, leading gaming tournaments, and reading books and writing book reviews and/or video game and film reviews for the library’s online blog.
Interns will also attend workshops in resume building, privacy training, workplace rights, Bibliocommons, interviews, and review writing. At the end, interns will deliver presentations on preferred topics.
11. Massachusetts General Hospital’s Youth Programs
Subject Areas: Science and healthcare
Location: Boston, Chelsea, or Revere, MA
Eligibility: Local high school students
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: Summer or any few weeks in the year
Stipend: Some internships are paid (amount not specified).
The Massachusetts General Hospital provides youth programs to nearly 1,000 young people every year. Of these, high school students can apply for the MGH Youth Scholars Program which seeks to increase interest and work experience in science and healthcare and improve college preparedness. It further provides support for students to succeed academically, graduate from college, and enter the workforce with confidence.
Students can also apply for the Summer Jobs Program to work in various departments of health centers in the city while also attending professional development workshops.
12. Summer Youth Internship Program at the Museum of Science
Subject Areas: Museum operations, education, community engagement, archives, administration, and more
Location: Museum of Science, Boston, MA
Eligibility: Individuals aged 14-19 and enrolled in a high school or equivalent program
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: July-August (3 days a week for 7 weeks)
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified)
The Museum of Science’s Summer Youth Internship Program offers internships to high school students in areas such as education, and offers insight into behind-the-scenes museum operations. Interns will learn valuable skills about how to interact with visitors and keep a museum running efficiently. Access to professional development workshops (such as financial literacy and resume and cover letter writing) is also provided.
Further, interns will get to participate in field trips to other cultural institutions in Boston as well as local colleges.
13. Veritas AI Internship
Subject areas: AI, ML, computer science
Location: Virtual
Eligibility: Open to high school students who have prior experience with AI/ML or have completed a Veritas AI program.
Application Deadline: October 20, 2024
Dates: The start date for the upcoming cohort is November 11, 2024.
Cost: $2,490 (some financial aid is available)
The AI Internship Program by Veritas AI is founded and run by Harvard graduate students. Through the 8-week internship, students have the opportunity to work with VC-backed startups on real-world AI/ML projects. Students work directly with mentors from Harvard, Wharton, Google, Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, and more.
This program is a great opportunity for students who have prior experience with AI/ML and are looking to gain real-world exposure to a career in the field. Students get a chance to network with industry professionals, work closely with company leadership, and receive a letter of completion from the company at the end of the internship. You can learn more about the program here and apply here.
Looking for an immersive internship experience?
Check out Ladder Internships!
Ladder Internships is a selective, virtual internship program where students work with startups and nonprofits from around the world! The startups range across a variety of industries. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project that is of genuine need to the startup they are working with, 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. Apply now!
Stephen is one of the founders of Ladder Internships and a Harvard College graduate.