Top 10 Psychology Internships for High School Students in NYC (New York City)
Internships offer high school students a great opportunity to explore career interests early, particularly in a dynamic, hands-on field like psychology. Many psychology internships for high school students provide exposure to real-world skills, direct industry experience, and the chance to build valuable connections.
If you are in NYC, many top colleges, hospitals, and organizations offer high-quality internships that can give you a meaningful head start on your career, even before you set foot in college. Whether you are interested in mental health, psychology, neuroscience, or social work, these psychology internships for high school students are thoughtfully designed to support your theoretical knowledge. Some of these opportunities also offer stipends, making them more accessible and rewarding. Let’s dive in!
1. Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Sciences (JHIBS)
Location: Virtual
Stipend: Unpaid (Virtual)
Acceptance Rate: Highly selective
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors from across the country; Applications from underrepresented or disadvantaged backgrounds are strongly encouraged
Application Deadline: March 1
Program Dates: 5 weeks in the summer (Virtual)
The Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Sciences is a highly prestigious experience designed to cultivate an interest in neuroscience. It’s also open to students looking to learn more about research and clinical careers in behavioral sciences like psychiatry or psychology. During the program, you’ll engage in hands-on research projects under the guidance of leading researchers who will also teach basic laboratory techniques and experiments. It also includes various other activities such as educational presentations, professional development training, mentorship training, and more.
2. Veritas AI
Location: Virtual
Cost: $2,290 onwards; Need-based financial aid is available
Acceptance Rate: Highly selective
Eligibility: Ambitious high school students
Application Deadline: On a rolling basis; Specific dates vary based on cohort
Program Dates: Multiple 12-15-week cohorts throughout the year
Founded and run by Harvard graduate students, Veritas AI focuses on providing programs for high school students interested in discovering artificial intelligence. The program is both for those new to AI as well as those looking for more advanced options. The AI Scholars program is a good place to start if you’re new to AI, ML, and data science. It will introduce you to the fundamentals of AI thorugh hands-on work and real-world projects.
However, if you’re a more advanced student, then consider the AI Fellowship with Publication and Showcase program. As a participant, you’ll get to work 1-on-1 with mentors from top universities on a unique, individual project. You’ll also get to publish that research project in high school research journals with the help of the Veritas AI in-house publication team. To be eligible for this program, you should have either finished the AI Scholars program or have experience with AI concepts or Python.
3. Clinical Neuroscience Immersion Experience (CNI-X) at Stanford University
Location: Virtual and in-person at Stanford University campus
Cost: Virtual session: $1,495; Financial aid available
Acceptance Rate: Highly selective
Eligibility: High school students who are 14-18 years old
Application Deadline: December 15 – March 1
Program Dates: Session 1 (virtual via Zoom): June 16 – 27
Stanford University’s Clinical Neuroscience Immersion Experience (CNI-X) is a 10-day intensive summer program that provides exposure to neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology, along with an opportunity to complete a collaborative capstone project. While this is simply a summer intensive program and doesn’t technically offer psychology internships for high school students, you will still get the chance to explore the research conducted in the Stanford Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
You’ll attend interactive seminars with Stanford faculty and researchers to learn about the principles of neuroscience, clinical neuropsychiatry, neuroscience research, psychiatric epidemiology, behavioral and social sciences, and more. Additionally, you’ll work in small teams to develop innovative solutions to social issues in psychiatry, psychology, or neuroscience, which will be presented at the final capstone session to classmates, families, program faculty, and staff.
Location: Remote
Cost: Starting at $2,490 (financial aid available)
Acceptance Rate: Highly selective
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours per week
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Ladder Internships is a selective virtual internship program for ambitious high school students. For over eight weeks, you’ll work with a high-growth start-up from a variety of industries, including tech/deep tech and AI/ML to health tech, marketing, journalism, consulting, and more. As an intern, you’ll also get to work on a project relevant to the company and present your work at the end of your internship. During that time, you will be guided by a startup manager and a Ladder coach.
5. UT Southwestern: Internship for High School Students
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Not mentioned
Acceptance Rate: Moderately selective
Eligibility: Rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors
Application Deadline: Early February
Program Dates: 2 weeks in June
The University of Texas Southwestern offers 2-week summer psychology internships for high school students looking to explore various mental health careers. During the program, you’ll learn about topics like psychotherapy, neuropsychological testing, neuroscience, interventional psychiatry, and community psychiatry. You’ll engage in interactive virtual sessions with licensed clinical social workers, neuropsychologists, physician assistants, and psychiatrists to learn about their career paths and experiences. You’ll also get to receive guidance and mentorship from experienced professionals, which continues beyond the internship.
6. Indigo Research Intensive Seasonal (IRIS) Program
Location: Virtual
Cost: $3,900
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Highly selective; 12 students per course
Eligibility: High school students between 14-19
Application Deadline: Rolling basis
Program Dates: 6 weeks in the summer and winter
While the Indigo Research Intensive Seasonal (IRIS) Program does not provide psychology internships for high school students, it is still a prominent research opportunity. During the program, you will get to complete a publishable research paper while under the guidance of professors from top universities like Stanford, Columbia, UCLA, Cornell, and Oxford. For over six weeks, you will attend weekly lectures and write a research paper, which can be submitted to different science journals.
They offer nine different course areas, including neuroscience. In the neuroscience course, you’ll attend three-hour classes twice a week to learn the fundamental cognitive process of memory, explore cognitive psychology and neuroscience perspectives, and identify differences between memory types. You’ll also be required to conduct a literature review on a memory-related topic of your choice.
7. Summer Neuroscience Program (SNP) at The Rockefeller University
Location: Rockefeller University, Manhattan, NY
Stipend: Unpaid
Acceptance Rate: Moderately selective
Eligibility: High school students enrolled in a New York City public school who are at least 16 years of age
Application Deadline: Applications typically open in January
Program Dates: August 4 – 15
Rockefeller University’s Summer Neuroscience Program (SNP) is a two-week course designed to introduce high school students to modern neuroscience. During the program, you will explore neuroscience research to understand how the brain functions and its relevance to daily life.
As part of the program, you will engage in interactive lectures, read and present a scientific article, meet Rockefeller scientists, and tour research facilities. Additionally, you will collaborate with a partner and mentor to design an original neuroscience experiment, work in small groups to read and analyze a research paper, and examine a brain to identify anatomical features, gaining valuable experience similar to what is offered in psychology internships for high school students.
8. Zuckerman Institute’s Brain Research Apprenticeships in New York at Columbia (BRAINYAC)
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY
Stipend: Paid. Amount not specified
Acceptance Rate: Highly selective
Eligibility: NYC high school sophomores and juniors enrolled in one of their partner programs; Students from the South Bronx and upper Manhattan are preferred
Application Deadline: Applications typically open in October
Program Dates: 5 weeks between June and August
The BRAINYAC program offers high school students an immersive, hands-on summer research experience in a Columbia University laboratory. During the program, you’ll be paired with Columbia neuroscientists who will act as mentors and guide you through your research project.
You’ll also get to establish connections with real scientists, learn key research skills, and become a part of the Columbia University community. At the end of the program, you will have a deeper understanding of the workings of laboratory research, be exposed to the professional academic environment, and have a stronger connection to science as a career.
9. UCLA’s Critical Thinking Summer Institute
Location: Virtual
Cost: $3,007. Scholarships are available
Acceptance Rate: Moderately selective
Eligibility: Current high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are at least 15 years old at the start of the program
Application Deadline: June 13
Program Dates: July 7 – 25
The UCLA Critical Thinking Summer Institute provides high school students with an opportunity to improve their critical thinking skills and explore cutting-edge topics in today’s media landscape.
As a selected student, you’ll participate in lectures and informal discussions hosted by UCLA faculty and teaching assistants on the psychology of reasoning, deductive and inductive logic, constructing and evaluating arguments, the relationship between reasoning and logic, and more. The program also hosts a workshop on media literacy and journalism that teaches how to assess media and provides first-hand experience in preparing an article for publication. You’ll apply all the learnings from the course on short problem sets and a final research article.
10. Columbia University BrainSTORM Program
Location: In-person, virtual, or hybrid
Cost/Stipend: Not mentioned
Acceptance Rate: Highly selective. 25 students per academic year
Eligibility: Current high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors
Application Deadline: January 1
Program Dates: Year-long program from June to May
Columbia University’s BrainSTORM Program comprises two parts: a monthly seminar and a research mentorship program. The monthly seminar is conducted online from September through May on a topic related to the brain, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, epilepsy, sport-related concussion, and designing a cognitive experiment. The sessions are taken by experts in neuropsychology, neurology, neuropathology, and neuroimaging.
The research mentorship program matches 25 students every year with a mentor to conduct a guided research project. It culminates in a year-end final research symposium, where you’ll participate in a poster session to present your research.