If you are a high school student looking at applying to the top universities, we hope that you’ve also looked at pursuing an internship (apart from other academic projects and extracurriculars). Internships are a great opportunity for you to develop real-world tangible and soft skills. They also show your ability to supplement your classroom knowledge with practical application - a skill which every admission officer would value! 

There are multiple methods of finding an internship, however, the best way to go about this is a structured internship program. In this blog, we cover one such program - Ladder Internships, a selective virtual internship program open to high school students. 

What is Ladder Internships?

Ladder Internships is a selective program for high school students to work with startups. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project and present their work at the end of their internship.

Throughout the duration of the program, you will receive guidance and support from your managers who will either work with you 1-on-1 or in a group (depending on a project). They’ll help you navigate the ins and outs of your internship! 

Who is eligible to participate in Ladder Internships? 

The program is open to high school students, undergraduates and gap year students! However, you must make sure that you can commit 5-10 hours/week for 8-12 weeks.

Where are Ladder Internships conducted? 

Ladder internships are offered in an online format for high school students. This is beneficial as you will save on travel costs and save time spent commuting. However, you might miss out on the benefits that come along with doing an in-person internship. Before applying, you should create a list of what you hope to get out of an internship before committing anywhere. 

What are the dates and deadlines for each internship cohort?

Ladder Internships range from 8 weeks to 16 weeks for the research internship. There are 5 cohorts through the year that you can apply for: 

- Winter Cohort 2023:  
Application Deadline - November 26, 2023
Cohort Timing - December 11, 2023

- Spring Cohort 2024:
Application Deadline - January 14, 2024
Cohort Timing - February 5, 2024

- Summer Cohort 2024:
Early Admission - February 18, 2024
Priority Admission - March 17, 2024
Regular Admission 1 - April 14, 2024
Regular Admission 2 - May 12, 2024
Cohort Timing - June 3, 2024

- Summer II Cohort 2024:
Application Deadline - June 26, 2024
Cohort Timing - July 15, 2024

What is the cost of the program? 

The 8-week program costs $1990, while the research internship costs $4,800. You can also combine the research program and internship, for which you will be required to pay $5,900. 

If the cost is a barrier, you can consider applying for full financial aid based on need! In the summer 2023 cohort, 15% of students were on full financial aid. 

What is the application process at Ladder Internships?

1. The application process involves a written application where you’re asked what areas you’re interested in or would like to get a professional glimpse into! You can expect questions like “why are you a good candidate”, “what areas for the internship are you interested in”, and “why are you interested in these areas”. 

2. Following this, you will be shortlisted for an interview. After this, your admission decision is finalized and you will be asked to pay a deposit. 

3. Once this is completed, you will receive a company match based on your interest areas and you will have access to the details of the company and your project for the next 8 weeks. If you’re interested, then you can continue, however, if you’ve decided not to do the program, you’ll get your full deposit back! 

Note: Your company match is determined by the interest areas you’ve mentioned in your application. You will also be questioned on these areas during your interview, after which you will be matched with a company that best fits your areas of interest! 

Is Ladder Internships prestigious? 

The Ladder team has indicated that the acceptance rate for the 2023 spring cohort was 20%, however, there may be a higher acceptance rate in later cohorts as they grow the program! Note that we do not have much more information outside of the spring cohort since it is not shared publicly.    

In terms of impact on college admissions, previous Ladder interns have mentioned their experience and projects on their resume and college applications, and have received acceptances from universities like Princeton, UPenn, Stanford, Cambridge, and UC Berkeley! 

What can you expect as a Ladder intern?

1. Your placement decision and company matching: The program will actually start with your placement decision! Every project is vetted by the Ladder team to ensure they’re both meaningful and will add value to your profile! If you are interested in working in a specific area, your best bet is to convey it in the application form as your placement company will reflect these interests! 

2. Regular meetings and discussion about deliverables: You can expect to have weekly 45-minute meetings with your intern-manager. In these meetings, you will start by defining your projects and deliverables. You should also be prepared to discuss weekly deadlines and progress goals. By the end of the 8-weeks, you will have a complete project that you can present to your company and the cohort of interns you graduate with! 

Here’s a week-by-week summary of your project timeline. You can get this information on the brochure as well! 

Which companies can you work with as a Ladder intern? 

As a Ladder intern, you can work with companies in these fields - health tech, environmental science, engineering, tech/deep tech,  machine learning/AI, non-profits, tech/deep, fashion tech consulting, mental health, and media/journalism! Here are where the companies and founders come from: 

What are some projects you can work on? 

The project(s) you work on as an intern vary from subject to subject and company to company. However, here are some projects that are currently in progress or examples for future cohorts. Do note that this is not exhaustive but just an indicator of the types of projects that are available! 

1. Building a revolutionary solar start-up: help Solarfriend kickstart the solar revolution in Southeast Asia! They are a brand new startup on a mission to bring more solar panels to homes and commercial buildings in the region. The idea for the startup began in September 2023, and they are currently working on winning over their first pilot customers and setting up everything from marketing to processes to hiring. If you’re interested in business, research or marketing, we suggest you look at Solarfriend! 

2. Building a new wealth management/crypto app: you would support the CEO to prepare for the upcoming launch. Your tasks will include researching and defining products, figuring out how to crack a customer segment and what they need, building up partnerships, financial planning and budgeting.

3. Building the pitch deck for our trading app: This company has identified the Swiss market as having good potential for their trading app. But, to get started, they need to raise money from investors. You would join in to refine initial market research and pitch deck ideas to assemble one impressive presentation that we can use to raise funding. This will include work on budget, go-to-market, strategic positioning and fundraising!

Pros and cons

Pros: 

1. The internship is entirely remote. 
A limitation of most selective internships is that they are in-person. Additionally, if these internships do not cover transportation or housing costs, they can be quite a financial burden. Ladder Internships is a pretty solid option because it offers you many choices and does not require you to travel/relocate, saving you a lot of time and money! 

2. You can apply for total financial aid. 
As we have mentioned above, Ladder does charge students for an internship experience. However, it also offers full-funded financial aid in order to eliminate any financial barriers that students from underrepresented communities or families may face. 

3. Interning with Ladder opens up many networking opportunities. 
Participating in this program is an excellent opportunity to network with leading experts in their respective fields. The Host Companies and managers are ex-Harvard and ex-Microsoft and have been featured in Forbes 30 under 30! Networking before high school is one aspect many students miss out on, and this can impact their journey to gain LORs, future work opportunities, and guidance for further research. 

4. You’ll get an internship opportunity that meets your personalized goals. 
Finding the right internship opportunities is often the most challenging part of the process. If you become a Ladder intern, you won’t have to scout for internship opportunities yourself! The program will match you with a company based on your interests.

5. You’ll have a guided internship experience. 
If you haven’t had any past internship experience, you may be confused about how to go about an unstructured/independent internship or research program. To solve this, you can consider Ladder internships, keeping in mind that your manager will constantly provide guidance and advice for your project, and this mentorship will allow you to maximize your potential and refine your project! 

Cons:

1. You will have to pay to intern. 
This is a drawback! The program is structured to provide support for students in doing the internship (e.g., with professional training and mentorship). But that also comes with a cost attached. 

2. You may be expected to contribute to workstreams from the get-go
Since the internship only lasts a few weeks, you will be expected to pick up on concepts and practices quickly, as opposed to a 3-4 month internship that is paced a lot more slowly than Ladder. As an intern, you will be tasked with contributions that may spread across multiple workstreams. You can make sure you are able to reasonably match expectations by indicating your preferences and goals clearly on the application form. 

3. You may get roles which an organization can reasonably delegate to a high school student.
This isn’t really a con, but more of a reality check. Since there are different skill sets required for different roles, you may find that the roles that are feasible for high school students are similar in nature - even though the industries are diverse.

4. The research + internship option may be quite hectic in nature
While Ladder offers both tracks in a combined manner, this may take up a chunk of your time, especially if you are a high school senior preparing for university admissions in the summer. 

What are Ladder interns saying about their experience? 

Hannah Bang, a high school junior who interned with Certinell Telehealth, mentioned how she worked on SMS processing systems connected to medical devices (which enabled broader testing!). She said that through her host company’s mentorship and the flexibility she was given, she “gained work experience that she normally wouldn’t be able to receive until after college!” 

Here’s what Khalid Hajji had to say about his experience as an intern with Billion Dollar Startup Ideas - 

“This internship was my first real working experience, and I took away a lot of value from it. It was both fun and a great learning experience. It opened my eyes to the world of business, finance, and AI and helped me realize that this is what I want to pursue as a major in college. I also valued my direct interaction with the founder of my host company, who I found inspiring and who I hope to continue to have as a mentor going forward.”

You can read more about past interns and their experiences here! Note that these reviews are coming from the Ladder Internships website and may be positively biased.

Our Review

Ladder Internships look like an excellent opportunity for students who want to intern in a niche field but aren’t able to find opportunities that are the right fit for them! Common feedback was that the internships are well structured and have multiple rounds of mentorship and feedback, so you can fully expect to be well-guided as an intern. 

The cost might be steep, but since there are financial aid options, Ladder is worth it due to the structure and mentorship opportunities it provides. However, it is essential to note that applying to Ladder for full financial aid will make it more competitive (2-3x more competitive is our estimate).

We’ve also looked at testimonials from students, and some standard features that Ladder interns liked were the opportunity to do real-world projects, the guided mentorship, and how the program was tailored based on the student’s interest! They’ve particularly mentioned how the LOR from their manager helped boost their application profile - which is something you can gun for as well. 

Lastly, since Ladder Internships are completely virtual, you can balance this internship with your other extracurriculars, whether during the summer or year-round! You can learn more about Ladder Internships and reach out to them via LinkedIn and Instagram.

But, if you’re interested in research-focused internships that are highly selective and/or fully funded, you might be interested in applying to Ladder as a safety. Also, if you’re looking for an in-person internship, you might be better off looking at other opportunities like NASA internships or National Lab internships like Sandia or FermiLab. 

If you’re looking to build unique projects in the field of AI/ML, consider applying to Veritas AI! 

Veritas AI was founded by Harvard graduate students, and through the programs, you get a chance to learn the fundamentals of AI and computer science while collaborating on real-world projects. You can also work 1-1 with mentors from universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more to create unique, personalized projects. In the past year, we had over 1000 students learn data science and AI with us. You can apply here!

Image Source: Ladder Internships Logo and Brochure Pages