Any company is unlikely to have offered such a written contract, with break-up contingencies, except in rare situations (known superstar, heavily recruited, known complications/opportunity costs of acceptance).

In the case of a traditional 'offer letter', the envisioned employment is usually ongoing at-will employment. So that 'writing' doesn't create much protection against changing-minds or changing business situations. Either party can end the relationship at any time. ("Welcome to your first morning at work! I regret to inform you we will no longer be needing your services. Good bye.")

The offer letter is the written contract we're referring to, but your underlying point is valid because no competent offer letter is going to concede to the candidate the employer's right to terminate employment at will. Most offer letters go out of their way to bolster the employer's at-will employment rights, for instance by making mention of "probationary periods".

You can ask for anything, but in general there's no piece of paper you can get (outside of executive recruiting) in the US that is really going mitigate the risk that the employer can change their mind. You might be able to cover any expenses you incur getting ready to take the new job. If you negotiate that.

If Rinum was referring to a traditional offer letter, I don't think he would've suggested getting a binding description "with what happens if they don't hire you". The idea that an offer letter to an intern might include such a section is so far-fetched as to be unhelpful.

In many states, explicitly agreeing on consideration in the case of rescindment isn't required for a claim.

In contract law, there's a doctrine called "promissory estoppel" (see http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/promissory_estoppel) that basically says, "if somebody promises you X, and as a reasonable result of that promise, you do Y, and Y is very bad for you if promise X is revoked, you can sue for damages." The OP's case is a classic example where promissory estoppel can be applied.

Alas, New York does not recognize promissory estoppel (see Marino v. Oakwood Care Center http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ny-supreme-court/1371955.html), but many states do.

Good to know... and also another way in which the premise of Rinum's suggestion – that it would be either possible or necessary for the OP to have gotten the rescindment details in writing – was off.

I agree with you. I'm saying that unless you're negotiating for the job of "EVP Sales North America" or "Chief Operating Officer", no contract at any level of employment from intern through janitor to engineering manager is going to insulate you from the employer's right to change their mind. As I'm sure you know, the right for employers to change their mind is one of the fundamental features of the US labor market.

It's generally a good thing, too.

That's exactly what I've been saying, too, but not what was implied by Rinum's advice.

I believe that the written offer letter helps you seek damages related to relocation, losing health coverage, etc., due to the expectation of starting a new job. At-will employment lets you fire people without consideration, but it doesn't let you scam them into investing their time and money into the business relationship.

This is true, but I think everyone would be aware that fighting a court case as a recent grad will be far too expensive, and doing that from outside the country adds even more on top.

Would this still apply for people on work visas?