How to Get Internships as a High Schooler (GUIDE).

I find that there are a lot of high schoolers who are looking for internships, specifically research internships, but most of them are really selective. I have luckily been able to get some internships at top colleges like Stanford, UPenn, and Dartmouth, and I am here to share how it is done. I am still in high school, so I still suggest talking to someone else for better advice, but I wish that someone had explained this to me when I was first starting out to get internships, so I decided that I shall be that person.

Let's get started:

Some background: Most of the time, when people think of internships, they think of formal internships such as NASA internships, where you must apply through an application portal and be aware of all other qualifications. For example, NASA requires you to be 16 years of age and a US citizen, which makes it hard for some kids to get internships. They also do not, to my knowledge, offer remote internships, making it difficult for many kids. There are also summer programs like MITES, RSI, and TASS, which are not quite internships but good opportunities to learn. I am not explaining how to get into those programs, as you have to apply for those, and you will see below exactly why I cannot help with those, but getting the internships I describe can be a good way to build your resume.

With that being said, the internships that I am talking about are not really true internships. They are not formal positions that you are applying to but rather positions that you are creating and then filling. If that is confusing, just continue reading, and you will understand. Basically, the rundown of what I do is I email individual professors asking if they could use my assistance, and then I am appointed to work and call it an internship. It is not as formal or official as a NASA internship per se, but it still gives you an incredible amount of experience, and you can still call it an internship, as an internship is "a professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work related to a student's field of study or career interest." You still get a lot of experience, so it is still a really good opportunity. Now that I have given you some background, let's get into how you can get these internships yourself.

The "Application" Process:

The first thing you want to do is figure out what your purpose of getting an internship is. Are you trying to get better at something? Are you trying to build your resume? Typically, most people would answer yes to both of these questions, which is fair. I learned how to code and build websites while also creating a monster resume in the process, so personally speaking, most people will want these things. But is there something else more specific you are looking for? Are you trying to do research to get published? Are you trying to introduce yourself into a new field? These are just some things you want to think about so you know what your cover letter, which we will talk about later, will be discussing. For example, if you are trying to do research, you will end up emailing professors who do research and work in labs, in contrast to emailing professors who are more teaching-oriented. If you are unsure, most people will end up looking for a research internship. Maybe you don't want to get published, but research internships are the most popular. Just a note: most of the internships you get will be UNPAID. I have got one paid one, but if you want paid internships, you might want to take the traditional route or get a job at McDonald's.

Now that you figure out what your purpose is, next you want to figure out what your field(s) of interest are. Personally, my fields were CS and law. They might not seem compatible, but I was able to get internships that worked on both. Your interests might be biology and medicine, or astronomy and painting. If you are unsure, just think about what you want to be when you grow up and look at departments, not majors, similar to that. If you look at majors, that is fine, but since you are a brand new intern, you still want to be looking at departments where there are more professors. You don't start fishing for the rarest fish; you start with common, less valuable fish so that as you learn how to fish and build your skills, you can start catching rarer fish.

Alright, you found your purpose and field. Now we will move to the first real step: writing a cover letter or cold email. In your cover letter, you want to start by addressing the professor's name. Then you want to introduce yourself—your school, purpose, and interests. I would not include your grade or age, as seeing 10th grade or 14 years old could be a turn-off for professors, even though you might still have what they are looking for. When I say purpose, I don't mean the purpose discussed above. I mean your purpose of getting an internship. For example, a good starting point for your email would be:

Dear Professor Smith,

I hope you are doing well. My name is John Doe, and I am a current student at East High School. I am reaching out to inquire if there is a potential opportunity, paid or unpaid, for me to act as an intern or assistant for you, either remotely or in person, or if I could work alongside you with a potential research study. I am particularly interested in medicine and conducting medical research.

In that case, John Doe is looking for a medical research internship. If he had put even more thought into it, he might say he is interested in the effects of GMOs on the human body or something that might prove he has a lot of interest.

The next thing you will want to look at is your experience. I understand that as a high schooler, you might not have too much experience, but trust me, professors really don't care. They are looking for 2 major things: interest and dedication. If you have done something at all in your past regarding the field you are trying to get an internship for, you should be set. Even if you haven't, explaining general experiences that you have, whether that be as simple as volunteering for a food bank, is all good.

Lastly, you will want to include a conclusion. Just something real quick to wrap up your point. A good conclusion might be:

I would greatly appreciate your consideration if there is an opportunity for me. I thank you for your time and would be honored to discuss any potential opportunities with you further. Please let me know if there is a good time for us to meet or if you would like me to provide any documents or materials.

The last thing I would add is a resume. If you don't already have a resume or need to make a better resume, use Resumake (not sponsored). They are just really good. They also use Latex, so you can reformat the resume in a Latex editor later if you need. I am not going to get into the nitty-gritty of making a resume, as there are already a bunch of videos on YouTube explaining how to make a good resume, but I will give you some tips. Keep your resume 1 page; you are in high school; there is no reason your resume is over 1 page. If it is over 1 page, you are adding a bunch of unnecessary things. Next, I would add my education, experience, awards, and skills to the resume. For education, only include high school or any educational programs that are above high school that you have attended. For example, try to keep it related to the field of the professors you are emailing, but if you need, you can stray a little bit from it. For awards, anything impressive or that proves interest and dedication. If you are still unsure about how your resume should look, I would take a look at this resume guide from r/Resumes. Also, if you have a personal website or LinkedIn, you might consider adding that if you feel that it gives the professor important information about you that you did not address anywhere else.

If you are still confused about how your cold email/cover letter should look, I made a Google Doc with an email template and example here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gvMTGQOUqmEFj-7NmX1Qt1PX3pc-vjRiyaZM2oS0\_Qk/edit?usp=sharing.  You can modify the template as you want, and I encourage you to add more interests or experiences as you see fit. You also might find that including your awards might be smart.

Next, you are going to find professors to email. I emailed hundreds of professors from institutions like Harvard and Stanford to professors from institutions like OSU. Regardless, just think of some colleges you want to email. Yes, more prestigious colleges will probably not give you as many internships, or it will be harder to get internships because their professors are more busy, but you can still get those internships. I got internships at ivies with nothing more than some volunteer and school club experience. Once you find the institution you want to apply to, you are going to go to Google (or whatever search engine you use) and type (institution name) + (department name) + (faculty list). For example, a search might look like "Harvard computer science department faculty list." Click on the first link, and you should see a bunch of emails. You might have to look a little, but the emails should be there. If they are not, find another link or search for another school. Now, once you have found your email, you are going to find your professor. You can do research on the professors if you want, but I sent out hundreds of emails and did not have time for that. Just make sure that your professor is not an emeritus professor, as that means they are retired. Also, make sure they are a professor. Associate professors and professors are exactly what you are looking for.

Lastly, you are going to go to Gmail and compose a new email. Put the professor email in the recipent box and make the subject something like "Potential Research or Assistant Opportunity." Then paste your cover letter template in the body section (make sure to check the professor name) and attach your resume. Then send off your email. This is going to take a while, and it took me 10–15 hours. It is boring, sure, but the payoff is worth it. Also, email as many professors as you want. I would recommend 100-200, but you will see in my results below that I did not follow my own advice. You will also end up emailing many different professors from many different colleges. I emailed around 20 or 25 different colleges. Yes, that means you will email multiple professors from the same college. I don't know how many professors you want to email, but the more, the merrier. The best time to send these emails is probably at the earliest January and at the latest April. I ended up sending my emails in June, which took a toll on my results, but I was still able to get internships. The reason why I recommend January to April is that is when most professors are filling their labs. It is also best to do your emails on a Monday or Tuesday, as that is when professors check their emails. They rarely check their emails on the weekend.

Now that you have sent your emails, you wait. As you get responses, some will be no's, which you should accept and just say thanks for the consideration. I recommend tracking your results as I did below. If you get any "email me at a later time," give it 2 or 3 weeks before you email them again.

Congratulations! You now have an internship you can flex on all your friends and your LinkedIn. Don't forget, you do actually have to do work for your internships, so follow through on the promises you made in your original cold email. Now, in the case that you have waited a few weeks and still have not gotten a positive response, you are going to have to send follow-up emails.

Here is how you send follow-up emails. First, wait a few weeks; I suggest three weeks. Then, on a Monday or Tuesday, send your follow-up emails based on the following template on this document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jUWWeBIFjZlw8on4bRg7LNOYSR6SWMvBiULD3s6Lpw4/edit?usp=sharing. If after even the follow-ups you still don't get a positive response, I can't really help you. You can email so many new professors if you want, but I would not send a third wave of follow-up emails.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, here were my results from my first year of using this method:

Emails Sent: 616

Follow-Up Emails Sent: 413

For a more in-depth analysis of my results, check this document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WVZ1TPQU75w40IjQ3-XRGlGOJwgNi14M64AhtPTPrP8/edit?usp=sharing. I ended up getting multiple internships.

Good luck with your quest of getting an internship!