<p>Is it reasonable to be looking for any kind of engineering internship before I've even been to college? I'n just looking to get a feel for the job.</p>
<p>In my opinion, no. When companies look for engineering interns they look for students who have completed some college courses. You may be better off looking for some kind of unpaid shadowing experience if you want to get the feel of engineering. Another thing you could do is get a non-engineering job at a certain place and ask if you can visit the engineering department.</p>
<p>05Sr- There are numerous summer engineering programs that expose students to the various engineering disciplines. Some also offer college credit for freshman level engineering courses. Perhaps one of these would be better suited to you. Good luck.</p>
<p>where do you find these programs?</p>
<p>If you google "summer engineering program," you'll find a wealth of information. Some universities also have scholarship programs. Here's a link to a book which is also very helpful in identifying different summer programs:</p>
<p>It's out of print, but most of the info is still relevant. Good luck!</p>
<p>are there any actual internships for first year college students in engineering to get some experience and decide if engineering is right for them?</p>
<p>Sure its reasonable to look for internships, but you will have a hard time at major companies. Most require some level of college or gpa. So instead look for a smaller company. Be inventive, thats all i can say. Try asking people you know if they have any contacts.</p>
<p>i am a high school junior with no college classes. i got a job working at NIST over the summer. It is a paid position and I work directly with robotics (programming, analysis of what works best on the robots, etc.)</p>
<p>As a scientist & engineering employer, I think its fine to look for such an internship in HS. There may not be much available, however, relative to opportunities for students in college. We hire numerous summer interns, but we look mostly for at least 2 to 3 years completed undergrad work, and sometime get lucky with a masters student. The older students simply produce more & are more mature. We do hire some HS kids, but I wouldn't term what they do as "engineering"......more technician work related to science & engineering, but its good exposure nevertheless. Go for it.</p>
<p>I live in Southern Connecticut ( near New Haven ) and would appreciate it if you could give me some on guidance on which companies to apply to. Do i just research for small Engineering related companies in the area who are employing and apply to them or is there a better way to go about doing this?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>