15 Programs for High School Students in NYC
Programs and internships are excellent options for high school students because they provide practical skills, industry exposure, and networking opportunities. Many top colleges and organizations offer these opportunities for high schoolers, making them great choices for exploring your career interests and gaining professional experience. Participating in a program can help you stand out in a competitive college admissions pool by demonstrating that you’ve explored your interests outside of school.
Programs and internships in New York City offer high school students many benefits due to the city's prestigious universities and diverse institutions. You’ll gain access to resources, mentorship, and research opportunities from top universities like NYU, Columbia, and CUNY, which host specialized programs and internships in STEM, arts, and public service. Below, we have listed 15 programs for high school students in NYC.
1. Memorial Sloan Kettering: Summer Student Program
Location: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Main Hospital, 1275 York Avenue, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: No cost / $1,200 stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Around 2%; 20 interns per summer.
Dates: June 29 – August 21
Application Deadline: February 6
Eligibility: High school students who are at least 14 years old by June, maintain at least a 3.5 GPA in science courses, and reside within 25 miles of New York City
The MSK Summer Student Program focuses on two areas: Independent research in a stimulating learning environment and Professional and Personal Development. You will participate in an eight-week biomedical and computational internship. The research areas include: Cancer biology, Cell & Molecular & Developmental Biology; Chemistry/Chemical biology; Computer Science/ Computational Biology/ Genomics; Engineering/ Optics/ Imaging/ Research Tools, among others. Over the course, you will develop skills and complete hands-on projects that support research objectives. Many labs have end-of-summer presentations, and the program also has enrichment activities on campus and tours.
2. Ladder Internship Program
Location: Remote
Cost/Stipend: Cost varies depending on the program type; financial aid is available / No stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 10 – 25%; 70 – 100 students
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Application Deadline: Varies depending on the cohort; Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Eligibility: High school, undergraduates, and gap year students who can work for 10 – 20 hours/week for 8 – 12 weeks
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 that ranges across a variety of industries, from tech/deep tech and AI/ML to health tech, marketing, journalism, consulting, and more. Ladder’s start-ups are high-growth companies on average raising over a million dollars, backed by Y Combinator, whose founders have experience at companies like Google, McKinsey, and Microsoft. In the program, you work closely with your managers and a Ladder Coach on real-world projects and present your work to the company. The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long. Here is the application form.
3. NYU Tandon School of Engineering: ARISE Program
Location: NYU Tandon School of Engineering Campus, Brooklyn, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: No cost / $1,000 stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; around 65 students
Dates: June 2 – August 8
Application Deadline: February 21
Eligibility: New York City High school rising juniors and seniors who are full-time residents
ARISE is a fully funded, 10-week summer program for New York City-based high school students. In the first four weeks, the program introduces you to safety training, college writing workshops, and research skills. You will assist faculty on projects in one of over 80 NYU research labs, gaining approximately 120 hours of lab experience and developing communication skills. You’ll also have additional benefits like access to the alumni network of NYU with jobs, internships, and research opportunities, and group and one-on-one college application support. The program ends with you showcasing your work at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Poster Symposium.
4. Lumiere Research Scholar Program
Location: Remote
Cost/Stipend: Varies depending on the program; full financial aid is available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; typically, 1:1 cohort sizes
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Fall (September - December), Winter (December - February), Spring (March - June), Summer (June - August)
Application Deadline: Varies based on cohort; Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), Winter (November)
Eligibility: Currently enrolled high school students who demonstrate a high level of academic achievement (Note: accepted students have an unweighted GPA of 3.3 out of 4)
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program offers extensive 1-on-1 research opportunities across a broad range of subject areas that you can explore, such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. The program pairs high-school students with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll have developed an independent research paper and will also be eligible for a UCSD Extended Studies credit. You can find more details about the application here.
5. Rockefeller University: Summer Science Research Program
Location: Rockefeller University Campus, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: No cost / Need-based stipends may be awarded
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; 32 students
Dates: June 22 – August 6
Application Deadline: January 2
Eligibility: High school students who are 16 or older at the start of the program
The Summer Science Research Program at Rockefeller University offers high school students an immersive, authentic laboratory experience. It places you on a mentored research team, where you collaborate with scientific trainees from the Tri-Institutions (Rockefeller, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Weill Cornell) to investigate a shared scientific topic. The early weeks focus on acquiring new lab techniques and formulating an independent research question under expert guidance. Subsequently, you collect and analyze data, sharing your findings in a collaborative environment. The summer ends with the design and presentation of a scientific poster at a formal symposium, along with workshops and guest lectures.
6. MSK: Bridge to Biostats Summer Program (B2BSP)
Location: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Main Hospital, 1275 York Avenue, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: No cost / Stipend paid, amount not specified
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; typically, a small class size
Dates: June 29 – August 7
Application Deadline: Typically, early February
Eligibility: Rising high school sophomores to rising seniors living and attending high school in NYC
If you are a NYC high school student interested in statistics and data science, you can explore the Bridge to Biostats Summer Program. This hands-on learning program helps you learn the fundamentals of statistics and basic programming in R. During the six weeks of the program, you will attend sessions on ‘statistical thinking,’ work on a cancer data analysis project, and attend SAT preparation classes and college/academic development workshops. At the end, you will present the results of your project to mentors.
7. Metropolitan Museum of Art – Spring Semester Internships for High School Students
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: No cost / $1,100 stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; roughly 36 students
Dates: Bootcamp: January 31; Departmental Placement: February 10 – May 29
Application Deadline: October 27
Eligibility: High school students who are in grade 10 or 11 in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut | Must not have completed another internship at The Met | Should provide either a Social Security Number (SSN) or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Spring Semester Internship offers paid, career-focused opportunities for NYC high school students in grades 10 and 11, regardless of their prior art background. It places you in departments covering topics like curatorial work, education, scientific research, social media, marketing, and design, offering insight into diverse museum careers. Activities include completing a 40-hour departmental placement, attending Career Labs led by staff, and assisting with the large "Teens Take The Met!" event. The program is unique for being a paid, semester-long commitment that fosters professional skills like communication, teamwork, and networking while connecting students with creative professionals.
8. The City College of New York STEM Institute Spring Program
Location: City College of New York Campus, 160 Convent Avenue, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Non-selective; around 25 students
Dates: January 31 – May 16
Application Deadline: November 30
Eligibility: High school students who have an overall 80 Grade Point Average (GPA) and an average score of 75 on NYS English Language Arts Regents OR minimum score of 480 on the PSAT/SAT E-BRW OR minimum score of 20 on ACT | Must have completed three high school semesters | Must reside or attend school within the five boroughs of New York City (NYC)
The City College STEM Institute offers a wide range of courses, such as College Now academic courses for students in grades 10 -12, and STEM Institute experiential courses for students in grades 6 - 12. This year, the program has the theme, ‘Building a Foundation for Tomorrow,’ which will strike a balance between academic growth and practical skills development. You will develop an idea based on the theme and work on it with your team throughout the program, and create designs, models, and prototypes from this idea. Upon completion, you will present the developed idea of ‘a sustainable city for the future’ with your team, and earn three to four college credits.
9. New York Historical: Student Historian Internship Program
Location: New York Historical Museum, 170 Central Park West, New York City, NY
Stipend: $700 stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive; 25 interns
Dates: October 29 – June 24
Application Deadline: August 24
Eligibility: High school students entering grades 10 - 12 who live or attend schools in the NYC metro area (five boroughs of New York City, as well as areas of New York State, Connecticut, and New Jersey)
The Student Historian Internship helps you deepen your knowledge and understanding of history and museums. The program helps you view the fields from different perspectives, conduct research, and develop skills. You will attend workshops led by museum scholars and educators, where you will learn research methods, public history skills, and exhibition design basics. The program also gives you an opportunity to create digital content, design projects related to the museum's collection. At the end, you can translate the entire experience into an academic profile to apply for a college in the subject.
10. NYU’s Cyber Security for Computer Science (CS4CS)
Location: NYU Tandon School of Engineering Campus, Brooklyn, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; 45 – 50 students
Dates: July 14 – August 8
Application Deadline: May 15
Eligibility: High school students currently in 10th or 11th grade from New Jersey and Nassau County
Cyber Security for Computer Science introduces you to the fundamentals of cybersecurity, ethical hacking, and computer science. You will study concepts such as ‘white-hat’ hacking, cryptography, digital forensics, privacy, and many other issues related to the cyber industry. Throughout the program, you will receive hands-on cybersecurity training and coding and programming practice. You will also participate in theatre-based communication workshops and real-world security analysis under the guidance of NYU faculty. By the end, you will have developed skills in cryptography and digital forensics.
11. Cooper Union Summer STEM Program
Location: Cooper Union Academic Building, 41 Cooper Square, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: $2,000 - $3,000/course; financial aid is available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Approximately 18-24 students
Dates: Three Weeks Session I: July 6 – 26; Three Weeks Session II: July 27 – August 13; Six Weeks Session: July 6 – August 13
Application Deadline: Typically, in March
Eligibility: High school students between 9 – 12 grades living in New York or within its five boroughs | High school students who have completed grades 9-11 can be from anywhere in the world
The Cooper Union Summer STEM program is a three to six-week project-based engineering program tailored for high school students. The program offers classes covering college-level topics and activities where you will learn the basics of human-centered design. You’ll participate in design, engineering, and technology projects that help you study various research techniques, data collection, and processing. You will collaborate in teams and learn about tools and hardware, programming techniques, and how to read datasheets and sample code. At the end, you will have a developed final product that you present to peers and instructors.
12. Parsons School of Design, New School Summer Intensive Studies: New York
Location: The New School Campus, 66 West 12th Street, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: $5,610 + $265 university fee + $50 nonrefundable application fee + $200 class supplies; limited scholarships are available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Non-selective; typically, under 30 students per class
Dates: Session 1: June 8 – 26; Session 2: July 6 – 24
Application Deadline: May 1; International students: April 1
Eligibility: High school students aged 16 – 18
PSD New York Summer Intensive Studies program is a three-week, three-credit program designed to help you prepare for college. You will explore project-based learning, participate in art and design field trips, and attend sessions led by industry guest speakers. All extracurricular activities are led by Parsons’ faculty, guiding you in the practical projects and portfolio development. You will gain a fundamental understanding of fine arts and design concepts and develop technical and creative skills. You will also earn three college credits, create a portfolio for admission to an art and design college, and learn community building upon completion of the program.
13. Manhattan University: Chemical Engineering Summer Program
Location: Manhattan University, 4513 Manhattan College Parkway, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: $400 (if paid before June 1); $450 (if paid before July 1)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Non-selective; likely 15 – 30 students
Dates: July 27 – 30
Application Deadline: July 1
Eligibility: Current rising high school juniors and seniors
The Chemical Engineering Summer Program is a four-day high school program organized by the School of Engineering of Manhattan University. This workshop will help you explore the range of topics in chemical engineering, including biotechnology and biochemical production, green and sustainable engineering, electronics and semiconductor materials processing, and many more. You will learn about chemical engineering in sessions, participate in hands-on projects and competitions led by Manhattan University faculty. You will also gain a deeper understanding of chemical engineering and related subjects by engaging in Q&A sessions with the faculty. At the end, you will have developed a network with professionals from the engineering field.
14. Columbia University: NYC Residential Summer
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: $12,764 per session; financial aid is available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; typically, small cohorts
Dates: Session A: June 29 – July 17; Session B: July 21 – August 7
Application Deadline: March 2
Eligibility: High school students who are at least 15 years old and must turn 16 by December 31 of the year they attend the program.
In the Columbia University NYC Residential Summer Program, you can choose from 70 courses ranging from arts, architecture, business and economics, creative writing, journalism, law, engineering, science and medicine, and many more. You’ll spend four hours per week in classes, discussions, and workshops to deepen your knowledge and concepts. You will learn from expert instructors and participate in practical projects and presentations that develop skills and prepare you for college life. Upon completion, earn a Columbia University Certification of Participation and evaluation letter, but not college credit.
15. NYU SPS High School Academy – Career Edge
Location: New York University Main Campus, Washington Square South, New York City, NY
Cost/Stipend: $2,579 tuition fee + $640 housing fees + $50 application fee
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Non-selective; cohort size not specified
Dates: Session 1:June 23–27; Session 2: July 7-11; Session 3: July 14-18; Session 4: July 21-25; Session 5: July 28- August 1; Session 6: August 4-8
Application Deadline: U.S. residential: May 15; U.S commuter: June 13; International students: March 15 (tentative, based on previous year)
Eligibility: High school students, typically 9th–12th grade at the time of the program
In the NYU Career Edge program, you can explore subjects such as Book Publishing: From Editor to Reader, Entrepreneurship and Business Startups, Journalism: The Who, What, Where, Why, and many more. The program gives you an insight into emerging careers in fields like publishing, business start-ups, event planning, finance, medicine, and many more. You attend classes and workshops led by the NYU faculty and work on practical projects related to the course with a team. At the end, you share your final project with peers, developing presentation and teamwork skills, and engage in college preparation and potential career options.
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