Should You Apply for Ladder Internships? Our Review
Whether you are a high school student or a college student, an internship can help you make the most of your time outside school. You can use it to explore areas you are interested in, such as startups, nonprofit work, or specific career paths. Completing an internship lets you apply what you have learned in a professional setting, gain experience, and contribute to impactful projects. Admissions officers and hiring managers value applicants who develop their skills and produce work beyond school assignments. If you might be interested in launching your own startup someday, interning at one is a great way to learn how they operate.
If you're considering applying to Ladder Internships, you'll want to read our review. Ladder is a virtual internship program that connects high school students with startups where they can work on projects under the guidance of professionals. These internships claim to let you apply your learning to challenges, gain mentorship from company managers or founders, and develop industry-specific skills.
In this review, we’ll evaluate these claims and break down Ladder’s programs, eligibility, application process, pros and cons, and what past interns have shared about their experiences.
What Are Ladder Internships?
Ladder Internships is a virtual program that offers high school students the opportunity to work on projects for startups and nonprofits. Students are matched with mentors who guide them through the process of completing a business project. Each student is mentored by a company manager or founder who supervises the project and explains how the organization operates. The program website says that their mentors have worked at large companies such as Google and McKinsey.
Ladder also offers financial aid to students who qualify. According to their website, over $204,000 has been given in aid so far. This support aims to make the internship accessible to more students.
What Programs Does Ladder Internships Offer?
Ladder offers a few different internship tracks for different goals and ages. Let’s take a look at each:
1. Startup Internship Program
Duration: 8 weeks
Weekly Hours: 5 to 10
Eligibility: High school students
In this program, students work with a high-growth startup to complete a project. Students work with a company manager to identify tasks, plan what to do, and deliver results. At the end of the program, students present their project to the organization.
2. CEO Internship Program
Duration: 8 weeks
Weekly Hours: 5 to 10
Eligibility: High school students
In this program, you work with a startup founder or CEO who has experience at major companies or top universities. For example, you could work with a CEO who is a Harvard MBA graduate or a former Goldman Sachs employee. This program is designed for students who want to understand how startups operate at a leadership level.
3. Combination Program: CEO Internship and Mentored Research
Duration: 23 weeks (8 weeks internship + 15 weeks research)
Weekly Hours: 5 to 10
Eligibility: High school students
This program combines the CEO internship with an academic research project. After the internship, students work on a research project with mentorship from a PhD candidate or researcher from colleges such as Harvard, Oxford, or Stanford. By the end of this program, students have a startup project and a research paper.
4. University Internship Program
Duration: 8 weeks
Weekly Hours: 5 to 10
Eligibility: Undergraduates and gap-year students
This program is for students who want to apply their academic knowledge to professional projects. Students are matched with a startup related to their major or career interests, such as finance, data analysis, or product management. They work on tasks that contribute to the startup, receive feedback from their company manager, and get a letter of completion.
How is the Internship Structured?
Once the student is matched with a company, they meet their manager weekly to discuss what they should work on, review progress, and plan next steps. By the middle of the program, students submit a draft of their project for feedback. At the end of the internship, they present their final project to the company, and in some cases, to other Ladder interns.
This chart outlines the internship’s timeline:
Which Companies Can You Work With?
Ladder’s startups cover areas such as AI, healthcare, education, media, and sustainability. Ladder claims that students work with companies led by founders who have experience at major companies, like Amazon, or top universities, such as the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. Some companies have received funding from venture capital firms.
From the mentors listed on their website, we see professionals who have worked at Citigroup and Microsoft, which is a good sign. Here are some of the companies that offer internships:
Past intern projects include creating content to boost Vietcetera’s online presence and using AI to improve menu ordering for Billion Dollar Startup Ideas.
Who is Eligible for Ladder Internships, and How Do You Apply?
Ladder Internships is open to high school students, undergraduates, and students taking a gap year. To participate, you should be able to commit 10–20 hours per week for 8–12 weeks, depending on the track. Because all placements are remote, you can join from anywhere.
The application process for Ladder Internships begins with a written submission, in which the student outlines their areas of interest and why they would be a strong candidate. The form asks questions such as what industries the student is most curious about, why they want to explore those areas, and how they would contribute to an internship setting.
After this first step, selected applicants are invited to an interview. The conversation provides an opportunity to expand on written answers, discuss skills, and clarify objectives. Following the interview, admissions decisions are made, and accepted students are asked to pay a deposit to secure their spot.
Once enrolled, students are matched with a company that aligns with their interests. They receive details about their assigned company and project. If the student decides not to move forward with their company match, the company refunds the deposit.
What Are the Program Dates and Deadlines?
Ladder runs multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Fall, Winter, Spring, and two Summer sessions. The Startup Internship Program, their core offering, runs for 8 weeks. The CEO Internship Program also runs for 8 weeks and provides guidance from a founder or CEO.
For students who want a longer, more intensive experience, the Internship plus Mentored Research track spans 16 weeks. This combines the 8-week CEO internship with an 8-week academic research project.
Deadlines are typically a few weeks before the cohort start date, with deadlines for the 2 summer cohorts typically on April 6 and June 22. You can check the latest deadlines on their website.
What do Past Students Say About Ladder Internships?
Ladder Internships have a largely positive set of reviews across multiple platforms. On TrustPilot, Ladder holds a rating of 4.8 out of 5, with students commenting on the real-world experience and the personalized support from mentors. Students say they gained confidence in project planning, communication, and research, and some mention that their Ladder projects helped strengthen their college applications and resumes.
On Google, Ladder has received mostly positive feedback from students, with reviewers highlighting the program's mentorship quality. One Medium reviewer praised the program’s flexibility, saying her company allowed her to customize her project to match her interests.
We also checked what people were saying about Ladder on Reddit and found several detailed comments from students who'd completed the program. Reviews on Reddit are more mixed, with some students saying their managers didn’t have enough time to mentor them. Other students report that the program provided valuable experience and helped them develop professional skills. You can see some of the reviews below:
Are Ladder Internships Prestigious?
Ladder does not publish detailed acceptance statistics for every cohort. Their team reports that the acceptance rate for a recent spring cohort was about 20%. This suggests the program is selective.
Although it’s difficult to estimate the prestige of a new program with acceptance rates, we looked at their college admissions results to gauge the caliber of applicants. According to their website, alumni have gone on to top universities, including Princeton, Harvard, and Stanford. Ladder also claims that their interns are 1.66 times more likely to gain admission to a Top 20 university than the average applicant, though we can’t independently verify this without their data.
Pros and Cons of Ladder Internships to Consider
Pros
You will receive structured mentorship: Students are supposed to be mentored by a manager or founder who has worked at a successful company, such as a FAANG organization, or graduated from a Top 20 college.
You can complete an internship from anywhere: The program is fully remote, so you do not need to travel or arrange housing. You can schedule your work around school and other commitments.
You will complete a project: Each internship requires you to deliver a project that contributes to the company or nonprofit. This gives you experience applying your skills to professional work and something tangible to include on your resume or in college applications.
You can apply for financial aid: Ladder offers need-based financial aid, and some students receive full scholarships. However, aid is competitive, and the company says only 10-20% of interns receive financial support.
You can choose to get research experience: If you want both professional and academic research, the CEO Internship plus Mentored Research track allows you to complete an internship and a college-level research project.
Cons
You have to pay a program fee: Unlike some internships for high schoolers, the program charges a fee, which is quite high. Before committing to the program, you should evaluate whether what you’ll get from the program is worth the cost for you.
You may not get in: The program states that the acceptance rate for recent cohorts was around 20%, which means there’s no guarantee of acceptance, even if you have strong academic or extracurricular credentials.
You will have to commit 5-10 hours every week: Internships run for 8–23 weeks, depending on the track. The internship can be demanding if you are managing schoolwork or college applications.
You will not be able to experience an in-person office: While convenient, remote work may reduce spontaneous networking opportunities compared to in-person internships.
Our Review—Should You Apply?
If you're looking for a high school internship that connects you with a startup, Ladder Internships will allow you to complete a professional project and learn from a manager. The program is structured with clear deliverables and regular feedback, making it worth considering for high schoolers who want an introduction to the professional world. Another strength of the program is the range of fields in which internships are offered, including industries like finance and tech, which can be hard for a high schooler to enter.
The program appears to be somewhat selective, with acceptance rates around 20%. Although we wouldn’t rate this program as prestigious, it can still give you tangible experience to add to your resume or write about in college apps. However, the cost is significant, so it’s worth weighing the pros and cons carefully. Need-based financial aid is available, but spots are limited.
From our analysis of past student reviews, it seems the experience depends on how clearly you communicate your interests and goals, since these influence the company you are matched with. If you decide to apply to this program, we’d recommend thinking carefully about the industry you want to intern in and researching your company match. Overall, Ladder is worth it for students who want a structured introduction to startups in an industry that doesn’t typically offer internships to high schoolers.
One more option – Young Founders Lab
If you’re looking for an incubator program that helps you build a startup in high school, consider the Young Founders Lab!
The Young Founders Lab is a start-up boot camp founded and run by Harvard entrepreneurs. In this program, you will work towards building a revenue-generating start-up that addresses a real-world problem. You will also have the opportunity to be mentored by established entrepreneurs and professionals from Google, Microsoft, and X.
You can access the application link here!
Image Source - Ladder Internships