Sorry @jchoen123 but why would any parent in their right mind shell out nearly $4k for a kid to get a summer internship? Who is that money going to? The “internship” location? The people who place the kid?
The kid could be earning some money at a summer job…instead of having their parent pay nearly $4000 for that summer program, jchoen.
Once you have finalized which college your child maybe attending it is possible that the college may have some summer programs students can join. For example since my child was enrolled in engineering there was a summer camp for freshman which included a basic foundation in calculus, physics, programming so that students could transition smoothly to freshman college academic workloads. Your child will also be going to freshman orientation.
I would look for a local job to pass the time over the summer which would allow time to spend with friends and also relax and take vacation time. This is probably the first summer in the last two years where there is no academic pressure. (SAT exam and college apps) The job could be based on a hobby. Most profession internships are for college students entering junior or senior year of college after they have taken a number of technical college classes.
@happymomof1 , @thumper1
Your concerns are absolutely understandable, but I think once you see it from an alternative lens, it becomes easier to understand. hsinternships.com costs around $1500 apparently, and this is significantly less than a.) summer camps, or b.) other internship matching sites such as discovery internship (which has cost of $4000).
Perhaps you are right for this specific case of patertrium – but for students who are still in high school and want a cheaper alternative to standard summer activities, it seems like HSI is a great choice 
(Keep in mind that if you get a formal internship during summer as opposed to summer camps, you can use this work experience in later years at college and so forth, gaining an edge in employment).
These are my thoughts – what do you think?
DD was exhausted after Senior year of high school and college admissions. She took a summer class, unwound, and prepared to hit the deck running in the fall.
Now she is finishing freshman year and will be working as a research assistant this summer.
The summer between high school and college is often the one in which it is least likely that the student can find a constructive activity.
Part of this is a matter of scheduling. If the student is going to a college that operates on the semester system, this is likely to be the shortest summer he/she will ever have. High school ends relatively late, and college starts very early. There just aren’t that many weeks in which to pursue an activity.
Also, students at this point aren’t really ready for most types of internships.
@jcohen123 - Legitimate internships might not pay the interns anything (and that is a whole other discussion about possible labor-law violation), but they don’t charge interns money for being there. Any student whose parents can scrape up 4k (or even 1k) to pay for an internship-hunter, has parents who can find their kid an internship themselves with only a couple of phone calls. I found my kid’s first internship with about two hours of internet research and four phone calls to people I didn’t know at all. A year later, it took about two hours of internet research for me to find some new options (the first place wanted her back again), and then maybe four hours of helicoptering while she composed, edited, and sent the emails that led to two good offers. She still works some gigs at the theater where she had that second internship.
I absolutely agree with what you said – and your son or daughter is certainly lucky to have a motivated parent like you. I hope you understand that I simply wanted to show patertrium a more cost-efficient alternative to traditional summer camps. In 2015 where the average summer camp costs $700/week (source: American Camp Association), finding a 6-8 week internship with only $1500 seemed to be a much better alternative – not just cost-wise, but in terms of the skills the student will be gaining.
Furthermore, I think @Kiddie raises a valuable point by saying that “Most kids can’t get internships the summer after HS because companies want kids with a few years of college under their belt (unless they have connections as mentioned above) so they do the usual things instead - camp counselor, lifeguard, work in retail etc.”
I’m currently a 3rd year at Harvard, and I have found friends who were absolutely happy having used hsinternships.com (although I personally have not used it myself). I think patertrium should – as you suggest – try to make some cold calls first, but if he wants to pay for any kind of summer experience, I think hsinternships.com will be the best option for him in terms of cost.
@jcohen I have to say that “call for a consultation” on their web site makes me think you’re about to get hit with a serious sales pitch. I’d feel better if they just posted the price instead of having a chirpy video that gets you engaged with sales dude. “Money back if you’re not completely satisfied!” It all seems a little - uh - off.
As far as I know from the website, it seems like it’s just a free 5 minute form you fill out that goes to their email or something. I just wanted to suggest it to you since I had friends who had great experiences with it. Good luck to your son with his comp sci school!
@jcohen123 I don’t see any independent reviews when I try to search “reviews hsinternships.com”. There is one testimonial published on youtube by the company itself. It’s odd they don’t have any contact information on their site nor even a business address. You’re forced to fill out the form. It just seems kind of odd. Their presentation sends up warning signs.
I agree with patertrium. Any legit group I have ever dealt with gave ME contact info before requesting mine.
yeah that does look suspicious… totally agree.
My guess is that they are selling information gleaned relatively easily from free sources like craigslist, linkedin or monster. They keep their contact info secret so it’s hard to complain after you discover you’ve been had.
Just asked the friend who used hsinternships.com – he said that they got in touch with him through info@hsinternships.com.
I don’t know why they don’t make the contact info public – maybe they got flooded with too many people?
From a PR perspective - generally if you’re going to launch a new company you get some press releases out and create some buzz about your new offering. Not seeing that and not seeing any reviews plus the other stuff we’ve discussed all seems odd. A benign explanation could be that they want to become the 800 pound gorilla in the space because every competitive parent wants junior working on the next cure for cancer so they can brag to Harvard. So hsinterships might want to keep their secret sauce secret. But still - they should have many more than one testimonial and it should be independently verified legit.
My son started a small tech business the summer after Junior year and also did it through summer after senior year. He fixed computers, taught people how to use their technology, set up new computers etc. It was handy because he worked as much as he wanted, earned good money and gained experience. BTW, he’s just finished a college hacking competition in Syracuse.