Admissions to Discovery Internships is made on a rolling basis and our acceptance is based on merit. Prospective interns are encouraged to submit their application materials early, as internships are selective and space is limited. Each year, more students apply than we are able to accept. Click here to go to our online application form. You will be able to save your application and complete it in multiple stages if you would like. There is a non-refundable application fee of $95. You will be contacted by one of our Internship Coordinators (IC) who will review your application and contact you for a phone interview. An admissions decision will be made based on your ability to demonstrate the requisite maturity and motivation needed to conduct a professional internship at one of our host organizations. Admissions decisions are typically made within 3 - 5 business days. If you are accepted into Discovery Internships, you will be asked to provide an enrollment deposit to secure your place in the program. The tuition balance is due on April 1st. Payment must be made in U.S. funds and International Payments should be made via wire transfer.
Admissions decisions are made on a rolling basis. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Internships are competitive and spots are limited. We recommend applying by March 15th for the best chance of being placed in your top career field preference, and even sooner if you have a specific request or would like to be consdered for some of our most prestigious internship placements. After May 1st, prospective interns should call our office before submitting an application to find out remaining availability.
Our programs are limited to students finishing grades 10-12. We will occssionally accept students of exceptional maturity who are completing 9th Grade provided they will be at least 15 years of age prior to the start of the program. Please view complete eligibility requirements here. Note: We are unable to accept students younger than 16 into our NYC or London programs due to the age requirements of our housing providers.
When making our acceptance decisions we look for students who can demonstrate sufficient maturity and motivation to enter a professional work environment. Students do not necessarily need to have outstanding grades or previous work experience to gain acceptance. Most students have not done a previous professional internship. Certain internship opportunities, however, do require familiarity with relevant technology or other advanced skills, but in general this is rare. However, students who have a portfolio, advanced computer skills, prior professional experience, or other unique or extraordinary skills may have additional opportunities available to them that might otherwise not be.
Within 3 - 5 business days of your interview with an Internship Coordinator, you will typically be notified of our acceptance decision. We can accept you into the program prior to receiving your letter of recommendation, however all our admission decisions are conditional until we have received your required letter of recommendation and academic transcripts.
Your reference will help us evaluate your potential to enter a professional work environment and also provide us with insight during the internship placement process.
No. All you need is the name and email address of your reference. We will contact them on your behalf with instructions for completing a Letter of Recommendation. In some cases, your internship placement can be delayed pending receipt of your Letter of Recommendation, however we are able to make a conditional admission decision prior to receipt.
Interns are typically notified of their internship placement within 8 weeks of admittance into the program. However, there are some factors that may result in a different notification timetable, including time of year, your industry preferences, and others that are beyond our control.
We use your application to determine admission based on your demonstrated potential to work in a professional environment and also to understand your interests and strengths so we can make an appropriate internship match. At no point in the application or internship matching process can we guarantee you a specific internship. Our list of available internships is always changing and the employers we work with may have very specific requirements for an intern that they will host. We will only notify you about your internship placement once it has been confirmed by an internship provider. If accepted into Discovery Internships, you will receive a customized internship placement plan that will outline our placement objectives. We will match you with the most appropriate firm for your specific skills, interests, and goals in conjunction with other factors such as the date your application was received and the requirements of our partner firms. Your final internship placement will reflect the specifications outlined in your placement plan and is non-negotiable. We place hundreds of high school students into professional internships every summer. We are unquestionably the most experienced organization in the world when it comes to high school internships and we can state with certaintly that your final internship placement will be the best one available for you.