Popular Science What is CPT and OPT for studying in the United States

First of all: TOEFL or IELTS scores, [hard indicators].

Secondly: domestic undergraduate or graduate school and scientific research achievements.

Third: the research direction during graduate school [to be written in special detail and executable], I forgot the specific name, in fact, it is to be written in the form of a report, what you have to do at each step, research schedule and so on.

And finally: any other requirements from the school you are applying to.

Of course, no matter how many achievements you have, but in the end, it depends on whether our domestic materials can be approved.

Application requirements for studying in the United States.

If you want to study abroad and don't know how to choose a school, you can go through the Study Abroad Volunteer Reference System.

Give yourself a position, enter your GPA, major, language scores, school background, etc., the system will automatically match the cases of classmates in the database who are similar to yours, you see which schools they have applied to, and understand the TA's handling agent and final admission results, so as to provide reference for your study abroad plan. Combined with their own situation, they can also have a general positioning.

You can also check according to the study abroad goals, and see what backgrounds (how many points in language scores, what is the school background, what major, how much GPA is the GPA, etc.) of your target universities and majors, and then compare your own situation and formulate general goals and directions.

Students studying here in the United States, whether they are going to ** to find a job later, will want to intern or work here for a period of time, also to enrich their experience. Then it is necessary to understand the CPT and OPT for studying in the United States.

Part 1: What is CPT?

CPT (Curricular Practical Training) is a permit that allows students to legally work outside of school, and the field of work must be related to their specialty. Generally, if a student needs to participate in CPT, then the employment part must be part of the student's curriculum, whether it is an internship or participating in a cooperative project, etc., and their employer must cooperate with the school.

2. What are the requirements for applying for CPT?

1. Students must also be enrolled in a full-time program for at least one year, and their F-1 status is valid. For example, undergraduate students can only apply after completing 9 months of full-time study, but there is no such requirement for graduate students, as long as it is the same as the degree requirements, they can take the CPT in the first semester.

2. The content of the work must be clearly related to the student's field of study, and the work done by the student cannot only be buried to bring remuneration to the student.

3. If the student has completed all the courses he or she needs, then he or she cannot apply for this CPT.

4. Students who are still in English training or ESL cannot apply for CPT.

3. What are the two types of CPT?

1. CPT internship is an indispensable part of students to get a degree, regardless of whether this CPT can provide students with credits.

2. The degree program does not need to have CPT, but this internship is important and can provide students with credit.

Classification according to working hours.

Part-time is limited to 20 hours a week, and it is generally a part-time CPT written on the student's work authorization form. Full-time CPT can be more than 20 hours per week, which will also be noted on the I-20. If you are a student who enrolls in spring and autumn, you generally rarely need to use full-time CPT.

In addition, even if you participate in full-time CPT, you still have to maintain full-time study, so as to ensure your F1 status.

4. What is OPT?

OPT is an optional internship period that students will complete after graduation, and the training time is generally less than 1 to 3 years. During this time, students have a work permit and can work in any kind of company, but the work they do is related to their specialty. Generally, students have to start this OPT 60 days after graduation, and students can only choose each degree level once, for example, they have completed a master's degree and then apply for OPT, and then if they have a master's degree in another major, they can not apply again, of course, if they go to a higher level of courses after that, then they can continue to apply for OPT.

However, OPT is not a visa, that is, the student status of international students will not change during this time, so you have to check whether its procedures have changed in this area from time to time, so that it will be more convenient to apply for a work visa in the future.

One, CPT is (Curricular Practical

training), this visa refers to the student's study period, the internship unit provides the job skills requirements must be closely related to the student's major, so that students can apply what they have learned and exercise their abilities in all aspects. This visa is only valid for 12 months. CPT visas can usually be applied for after one year of enrollment, except for graduate students who are cautious and must immediately participate in an internship due to the needs of the program.

If there are multiple degrees at the same level, for example, several master's degrees, then the length of the year refers to the total year of all the master's degrees together, rather than one year for each master's degree.

Second, OPT is optional practical

Training, short for Training, is an off-campus work permit granted to F-1 students by USCIS. It is a temporary work permit that allows foreign students to put their professional knowledge into practice outside of school. Applying for OPT is first approved by the school and then by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which ultimately leads to OPT eligibility.

There are two main forms of opt: one is pre-completion opt; The other is post-completion opt.

pre-completion

OPT: Refers to the OPT that foreign students apply for before completing their degree program. As long as the student continues to register for the next semester, the student can apply for a work placement of up to 20 hours per week during holidays or during classes up to 90 days before the end of the semester.

post-completion

OPT: Refers to the OPT applied by foreign students after completing their studies. Students can begin applying up to 90 days prior to the completion of their degree; If the student does not apply for OPT within 60 days of graduation, he or she must leave the United States.

If the student has already found a job within the validity period of the OPT, he or she can successfully apply for an H1B visa, work legally in the United States, and hopefully apply for a green card.