<p>hello!
Mmm, so I want to be an engineer..
Currently I am a sophomore, and I'm mostly interested in Mechanical Engineering, Comp. Engineering, and Civil Engineering.
Sooo.. My school has this internship program thing.. It' like you intern (unpaid) for certain amount of time and get a class credit :] !
I've talked to the teacher few times, and he told me that it's reaaaaallly hard to find an engineering related internship... =/
so he has recommended this internship that is related to computer.. I guess like an internet site?... But I'm not sure if I want to do it...
Mmm and also, I am in a research class so if i do a research at some university or something, he said I can intern and do a research at the same time...
What should I do?.. Give me some advices/opinions.
Thankss :]</p>
<p>Try contacting professors at local universities who have similar interests to you and ask if you can volunteer in their lab. It’s probably easier to do that than find a position at a company (although if there are companies in your area, by all means contact them too) and professors usually love free labor.</p>
<p>EDIT - ooops, didn’t read to the end of your message - apparently you already thought of this. you want an engineering internship outside of academia? i suggest you just contact lots and lots of people, then - good luck!</p>
<p>Not sure what you’re talking about, this is an internship program for high schoolers? Yeah, I’m not surprised engineering internships for high schoolers are hard to find. I wouldn’t worry a whole heck of a lot about work experience or research experience (although this can help you get accepted to top engineering schools, they like to see stuff like that), once you get to college and have been there a year or two is the time to look into internships. Don’t know what your research class thing is either. You must go to a pretty advanced high school.</p>
<p>Possibly the most helpful thing to do now would be to take AP calculus classes, or take calculus classes at a local college (they let high school kids do that, ask your guidance counselor). The more calculus you can get college credit for, the faster you can get your degree and the faster you can get to your “real” engineering classes.</p>
<p>soooo… research intern > the internet site thing? lol.</p>
<p>TomServo) Hahaaa. My internship class = 5hrs of interning a week & write some reflections & check in with teacher once a week
Research class = do a research (with a mentor or without a mentor) & go to regional science fairs haha.
Indeed, I am going to take AP Calculus BC next year 
exciteddd.</p>
<p>SOO… Is it really IMPOSSIBLE for a highschool student to get an engineering internship?
=[ … I don’t know people who are in these areas sooo … yaah. :/</p>
<p>Is it impossible? No, but it is tough. Civil will be easier than mechanical. Do you know AutoCAD or ARCinfo? If so, there are firms that would love to have some free labor to crunch some drawings. Call all the Civil firms in your area. Some may even take you to help on survey crews. </p>
<p>Talk to your school about liability. My guess is that firms will be hesitant if the school does not accept all responsibility for you when you’re interning.</p>
<p>Bottom line: interning in HS is not necessary for engineering (or any other field). Colleges do not expect you to know anything about the field when you arrive and employers won’t care what you did 4 (or 5 or 6) years ago as a HS student. If you think an internship will help you decide - then perhaps. It may show some colleges that you have an interest in engineering but that’s about all and I can’t think it makes much difference on gettting in.</p>
<p>I actually did something similar to both of those things in high school. For my senior project I shadowed an engineer at a firm that makes rewinders and rollers for companys that make something like paper rolls, tape, gift wrapping paper. I did reflections and summaries of what I did each day. The school helped me a lot in helping me find the places to call and what to say. You definately want to talk to your guidance councellor.</p>
<p>I also did Science Olympiad senior year. I had plenty of time to do both and I got school credit for both.</p>
<p>Working for free is against the labor laws in our country. Companies are required by federal law to pay minimum wage. Please don’t give high schoolers the idea they should work for free.</p>
<p>I honestly would encourage the OP to get a typical high school job, like working at McDonalds or other fast food restaurant or something along those lines. You learn specific skills there that you don’t learn later in life and it provides experiences that you won’t get again in the future. It may not be high profile or glamarous work today but it rounds out your education in a unique way.</p>
<p>“Working for free is against the labor laws in our country. Companies are required by federal law to pay minimum wage. Please don’t give high schoolers the idea they should work for free.”</p>
<p>People frequently work for hospitals, the red cross, and other non-profits for free. They call it volunteering.</p>
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<p>I remember having an internship lined up my senior year to do as part of my school district’s required graduation project when the company called me the day before I was supposed to start, asked if I was 18, and then told me I couldn’t work there due to liability issues since I wasn’t 18.</p>
<p>bigtrees, people do unpaid internships all the time, ***?</p>
<p>QwertyKey,</p>
<p>You’re allowed to volunteer for non-profits (Red Cross, etc). But companies aren’t allowed to have people come in and volunteer at Hillside Engineering and do AutoCAD work for free. There is a set of very specific circumstances that you can, but the basic premise is somebody working for free can’t be getting real work done (like AutoCAD drafting). </p>
<p>“Under the FLSA, employees may not volunteer services to for-profit private sector employers.”</p>
<p>[elaws</a> - Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor](<a href=“http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/docs/volunteers.asp]elaws”>http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/docs/volunteers.asp)</p>
<p>"bigtrees, people do unpaid internships all the time, ***? "</p>
<p>Don’t blame me, I didn’t write the law.</p>
<p>From the Department of Labor</p>
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</p>
<p>Bottom line: go for it if its something you’re interested in pursuing.</p>
<p>Osdad,</p>
<p>Your original post said that some civil engineering companies would love to have free labor to crunch their drawings. That is a conflict with the post you cited from the Department of Labor:</p>
<p>**The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees and on occasion the employer’s operations may actually be impeded; **</p>
<p>That means that the volunteer trainee can practice using AutoCAD but can’t do any productive work. That would not include crunching drawings.</p>
<p>High school students intern unpaid all the time for companies, including engineering firms. Typically, the interns just job shadow an engineer. The purpose isn’t to develop work experience but rather to explore a career and see what people in that field actually do for a living. </p>
<p>The problem with engineering positions, especially manufacturing, is that they are concentrated in certain parts of the country. If you live outside of one of those areas, positions are hard to come by.</p>
<p>Where I worked last year, every hs intern was given a $400 check as a “thank you” at the end of the program.</p>