Tech Internships for High School Students: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

For high school students with a passion for technology, internships offer an invaluable opportunity to gain real-world experience, explore potential career paths, and build a competitive edge for college admissions. These programs provide a glimpse into the day-to-day realities of tech professionals, allowing students to apply their knowledge, develop new skills, and network with industry leaders. This article explores various tech internship opportunities available to high school students, highlighting programs that cater to different interests and skill levels.

K-12 Programs and Opportunities

Several programs cater specifically to K-12 students interested in STEM fields. These programs offer a range of experiences, from research internships to summer camps and workshops. It is important to explore each program individually, paying attention to application deadlines, eligibility requirements, and program fees. Many programs offer financial aid or fee waivers to make them accessible to a wider range of students. Some programs also offer sessions outside of the summer months.

AI in Medicine Summer Programs (Stanford AIMI)

The Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine & Imaging (AIMI) offers summer programs for high school students interested in exploring the intersection of AI and healthcare. These programs aim to spark interest and empower the next generation of AI leaders in medicine, inspiring students to develop innovative AI solutions that advance human health.

Summer Research Internship: This program is designed for ambitious high school students entering 9th-12th grade who want to apply their technical skills to real-world clinical problems. The internship includes expert-led sessions, a hands-on project, and mentorship from Stanford researchers.
Summer Bootcamp Program: This free virtual bootcamp is designed for high school learners of all technical levels. It offers a curated curriculum that covers the fundamentals of machine learning in healthcare settings, led by Stanford’s leading health AI experts.

Brain Day

"Brain Day" is an annual event where volunteers from the Neuroscience program take real human brains to middle school classrooms. Students get the chance to see and hold human and animal brains, often for the first time, through hour-long, hands-on demonstrations.

Camp Cardinal

Camp Cardinal provides innovative programming and daily activities led by an experienced team of counselors.

Campus Walking Tours

The Stanford Visitor Center provides no-cost tours, exploring the highlights of Stanford’s beautiful campus.

Cantor Arts Center

The Cantor Arts Center provides tours and special classes for children, teens and families throughout the year.

Cardinal Kids Club

Children under 14 can join the Cardinal Kids Club to receive free general admission to many Stanford athletic events, notices of clinics conducted by Cardinal teams, and a free t-shirt and membership card.

Cardiothoracic Surgical Skills Summer Internship

This intensive two-week course is designed for high school students considering careers in science and medicine, specifically in cardiothoracic surgical anatomy and physiology. The program provides knowledge of and exposure to basic and advanced cardiothoracic surgery and technical skills. Lectures and skills sessions are conducted by Stanford University faculty and surgical residents. Financial assistance is available for applicants in need.

Clinical Anatomy Summer Program (CASP)

The Clinical Anatomy Summer Program (CASP) offers high school students the unique opportunity to explore anatomy and health careers in a week-long, non-residential, in-person program. Summer program students engage with virtual modalities of learning anatomy, hands-on suturing and dissection workshops, and the opportunity to interact with human cadaveric specimen.

ESP (Education Program for Gifted Youth)

ESP offers a Saturday or Sunday on campus full of academic and non-academic classes taught by Stanford students. ESP invites students to attend classes that could vary from completely “non-academic” stuff like cookie baking and origami, to complicated and challenging classes on machine theory or quantum mechanics.

Future Advancers of Science and Technology (FAST)

FAST is a program in which Stanford University graduate students mentor high school students toward achieving their goals of answering open questions in science and engineering. High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors of Andrew P Hill High School and James Lick High School meet with Stanford PhD students during afternoons of two Saturdays each month. The goal is to brainstorm projects and carry out experiments / build prototypes between September and February. In late January through March, high school students present their work at local science fairs, state science fairs, and at a Symposium at Stanford University. FAST also offers a series of online workshops to help high school students navigate the college process.

Genomics Research Internship Program at Stanford (GRIPS)

The Genomics Research Internship Program at Stanford (GRIPS) brings summer internship opportunities in computational genetics and genomics to Bay Area high school students. GRIPS offers highly talented high school students a unique research experience, professional development, and community building opportunities. Program participants will be placed in a research laboratory for the summer and conduct genomics research under the supervision of a lab mentor.

Health Career Collaborative (HCC)

The Health Career Collaborative is a student-driven health career exposure & mentorship program that connects 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students from East Palo Alto Academy to undergrads, medical and graduate students, and faculty at Stanford. The HCC's goal is to expose students from disadvantaged and/or underrepresented backgrounds to the exciting field of healthcare in aims of making the future workforce of medicine more representative, and its delivery more equitable.

High School Chemistry Outreach

The Stanford Chemistry department teamed up with American High School in Fremont to bring in novel hands-on guided inquiry lab experiences. In these labs, students work together in small groups to carry out an exciting activity that would otherwise not be possible with the minimal equipment and supplies available to most high schools. The lab topics fit within the California Curriculum Standards, presented with an emphasis on how these concepts apply in the real world.

Imagination and Medicine: Graphic Medicine, Comics, and Science Fiction

Imagination and Medicine: Graphic Medicine, Comics, and Science Fiction is a two-week course that explores how speculative storytelling and visual narratives shape the ways we understand the human body, illness, technology, and care. Using graphic novels, comics, classic and contemporary science fiction, pop culture, and emerging medical research, students examine medicine past, present, and future while sharpening critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills.

Inspiring Future Scientists through Shadowing (IFSS)

IFSS is a two-week program hosted each summer by the chemistry department to give rising juniors and seniors in high school an opportunity to experience cutting edge chemical research while shadowing a graduate student mentor as they work in the laboratory.

Introduction to Logic High School Summer Camp

The Introduction to Logic High School Summer Session is a two-week, non-residential program offering an introduction to logic from a computational perspective.

Pre-College Opportunities within Energy Research (POWER)

POWER is a Stanford Energy Club program that offers hands-on workshops to introduce local high school students from historically marginalized communities to topics in sustainability and energy research.

Pre-Collegiate University-Level Online Math & Physics Courses

These online courses are designed for motivated and academically advanced high school students to explore their intellectual passions, develop analytic reasoning and creative thinking, and study directly with expert instructors. Courses are offered for credit throughout the summer and academic year, and give students the opportunity to take a broad offering of math and physics courses not typically offered in secondary schools.

Science Accelerating Girls' Engagement (SAGE)

SAGE (Science Accelerating Girls' Engagement) is a one-week summer camp for public high school students (age 14-17) hosted by scientists and engineers to share what life is like in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) professions. This program aims to foster innovation, grow the STEM community, and engage intelligent, creative, and passionate young women in the everyday life of scientists and engineers. Throughout the week, students will participate in job shadowing, hands-on projects, professional development, networking activities and more!

Science, Technology, and Reconstructive Surgery (STaRS) Summer Internship Program

Each year, the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery hosts talented high school and undergraduate students in their research laboratories. STARS interns spend 7 weeks mastering basic lab techniques, participating in research projects, and presenting their work all under the mentorship of experienced researchers.

Seeds of Change

Seeds of Change partners Stanford undergraduates in technology disciplines with high school students interested in advancing the participation of women and girls in STEM, and provides an integrated curriculum of mentoring, training and skills development. The program’s goal is to establish and retain young women in technology fields, and create future women STEM leaders.

SIMR - Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program

SIMR is for high school juniors and seniors interested in hands-on research in immunology, stem cell, cancer, neuroscience, bioinformatics or cardiovascular medicine. This eight week program enables students to take part in research, attend introductory lectures and present their work at a poster session open to the Stanford community.

SLAC Summer Internship Program

Participants in this program include high school (ages 18 and older), undergraduate and graduate level college students. Internship programs are designed to provide students with stimulating, real-world work experiences. Interns can work up to twelve weeks from May until September, depending upon department needs and student school schedules.

SPLASHSplash!

SPLASHSplash! offers a Saturday or Sunday on campus full of academic and non-academic classes taught by Stanford students. ESP invites students to attend classes that could vary from completely “non-academic” stuff like cookie baking and origami, to complicated and challenging classes on machine theory or quantum mechanics.

Stanford AI4ALL

Stanford AI4ALL aims to increase diversity in the field of Artificial Intelligence. During this three-week online program, students are immersed in AI through a combination of lectures, hands-on research projects, and mentoring activities. Participants engage with professionals in the field to learn about cutting-edge ideas, such as how AI can be applied in medicine, disaster response, and combatting poverty. The program also aims to build a close-knit community and encourage interest among underrepresented populations in the field.

Stanford CARE Explorers: AI x Asian Health

The Stanford CARE Explorers program is a dynamic two-week in-person summer experience designed for high school students passionate about improving health outcomes in Asian and Asian American communities and beyond. Participants will explore critical health topics that impact Asian populations, examine how AI tools can improve their understanding of precision health data, learn the fundamentals of statistical data analysis, and develop essential leadership and teamwork skills.

Stanford Clinical Science, Technology and Medicine Summer Internships

This program is designed for high school (rising juniors and seniors) and pre-medical undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in medicine, STEM, medical research and development, or health care design, with a specific focus on Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine.

Stanford Clinical Summer Internship

The Stanford Clinical Summer Internship brings together curious learners from differing backgrounds to actively engage in the exploration of the art and science behind world-class medicine.

Stanford EXPLORE: A Lecture Series on Biomedical Research

The Stanford Explore Lecture Series covers the basic fundamentals and current research areas in Immunology, Neuroscience, etc.

NASA Internships

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement provides students the opportunity to impact the agency’s mission through a hands-on internship. NASA offers internships for non-STEM majors, needing employees with a variety of knowledge and skills, including engineers, mathematicians, scientists, accountants, writers, IT specialists, project managers, program analysts, and many other professionals. Internships may be full time or part time on a NASA center or facility.

University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Computer Science Research Opportunities

The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Computer Science (CS) department offers summer research opportunities for passionate and highly motivated advanced-level high school students. These opportunities are primarily for students finishing 10th and 11th grade. UTD CS offers two types of research opportunities: Intensive Research Internships in CS labs and Summer Research Workshops. Learning coding skills and understanding new technologies is the most productive way to spend summer months for the most high school students.

Intensive Research Internship in CS Labs: These internships are limited to students who will be age 15 and up by the start date. Interns are expected to work 20-40 hours per week, engaging in tasks such as reading research papers, conducting simulations, and developing apps.
Summer Research Workshops: These workshops are run like informal college courses and meet at least twice per week. The goal of each workshop is to end with a final project or paper related to the research area.

UTD CS also offers an 8-week Deep-dive AI workshop which runs for the whole day for 8 weeks! The workshop is taught by UTD CS doctorate & graduate students, with Dr. Anurag Nagar as the faculty lead.

Lockheed Martin Space’s High School Internship Program

Lockheed Martin Space’s High School Internship Program is designed to give students interested in pursuing STEM-related careers the opportunity to work with aerospace scientists and engineers.

Career Quest (Seattle Public Schools Internship Program)

Career Quest is a Seattle Public Schools (SPS) Internship program where students can earn high school credit outside of their school day while exploring careers for their futures. Students can earn CTE credits for work and internship experiences.

Specific opportunities within Career Quest include:

Amazon Periscope: A 2-week career intensive at Amazon for 10th-grade students.
Career Quest Internships: Placements in various fields with a weekly class component.
Education Quest: Internships at SPS elementary schools supporting social-emotional learning.
Open Science Quest: A 3-week career intensive at the Allen Institute focusing on cell biology, neuroscience, and immunology.
Tech Quest: A 2-week career intensive for 9th-grade students to explore STEM fields.

SafeFutures

SafeFutures offers a summer program where participants become "interns" and explore exciting new career pathways and skill sets. Upon completion of the summer program, participants receive a stipend as a reward for their hard work!

Other Opportunities

Scrubs & ‘Scopes Camp: A five-day camp to gain insight into various medical careers.
Accounting Career Awareness Program (ACAP): A week-long residential program introducing students to accounting.
Junior Naturalists: Teens volunteering with Summer Camp.
Girls Who Code Summer Academy: High school girls and non-binary students can explore AI, Game Design, Cybersecurity, and Data Science.
Cascade Warbirds Scholarships: Scholarships for Private Pilot Ground School with Introductory Flights.
Seattle Children’s Research Training Program: An in-person research program for local students.
UDOC (University of Washington): A free 6-week hybrid summer residential program exploring health careers.
Urban Native Education Alliance (UNEA) Internship: An internship focused on engaging Native youth through education, culture, and tradition.
Outdoors for All Winter Volunteer Opportunities: Volunteer opportunities with a Seattle-based nonprofit.
Seattle Fire Department Cadet Programs: Opportunities for young adults seeking a career as a Seattle firefighter.
Seattle Parks and Recreation Seasonal Jobs: Seasonal jobs for high school aged students.
Young Women Empowered (Y-WE): Programs in horticulture, writing, and art for teens ages 13-19 in the Greater Seattle area.

Maximizing the Internship Experience

To make the most of a tech internship, high school students should:

Set Clear Goals: Define what you hope to achieve during the internship, whether it's gaining specific skills, exploring a particular career path, or building your network.
Be Proactive: Take initiative, ask questions, and seek out opportunities to learn and contribute.
Network: Connect with your colleagues, mentors, and other professionals in the field.
Document Your Experiences: Keep a record of your accomplishments, skills learned, and projects completed.
Seek Feedback: Ask for regular feedback from your supervisor and mentors to identify areas for improvement.

Overcoming Common Misconceptions

A common misconception is that tech internships are only for students majoring in science or engineering. However, many tech companies and organizations, like NASA, offer internships for students with a variety of skills and interests, including those in business, communications, and the arts.

tags: #tech #internships #for #high #school #students