Full time CPT

[jimbob09 3]

Hey guys,

 

I am about to undertake my M.Ed in Elementary Education in the USA. I am applying for part time on campus jobs as of now, just to supplement my living. 

 

From research, I can apply for full time CPT after my first year of studying, if it something that goes side by side with my course and is needed to help me complete my course. Part of my second year classes include 'Action Research', which is basically research conducted in an educational setting that I work in. As an F1 student, I don't work in one! On the grounds of this, could I get full-time CPT? It would mean I can effectively conduct my Action Research. This is essentially my dissertation for my masters in education, and to conduct it I need to actually be in an education setting. Based on this information about my course, am I likely to be granted CPT? I feel I have a good solid reason for wanting to use CPT?  I know it's early still, but I want to get an idea of my options financially as this would be great experience for me and also a great way to earn extra money.

 

My understanding is if my full time CPT is under 12 months (which in a school/education based job, it most likely will be), then my 12 months OPT is still available to me. Is this correct?

 

Any information I don't know would be great, and if you've been through CPT, please give me your experiences of the process! 

 

Thanks

[Coco8 1,042]

You can work on campus without the need of authorization. I'm not sure how much you can work, but it was kind of part time. Be sure not to do more than you can. Also, you can work with professors as research assistant and that would also be paid, but it is much better work because you are actually learning something. Then there are other jobs that were cool, like basically overseeing a computer lab. You just sit there studying and make sure nobody steals anything or breaks anything. 

 

About your "Action Research", you should talk to the office of international students and the director of graduate studies for Masters. Does the university have a school? Some do. Does the university have a summer camp? Some do. If there is something you could do on campus, that would be much better. Also, you don't necessarily have to work as a teacher and be in front of a class. Just as an example: You could be interested in the best tools to teach math to students ages 7-9 and do some experiments with children, etc. You could go to a school to do this but it would not be working, it would be part of a university study (this is a vague example and there would be a ton of red tape). 

 

16 minutes ago, jimbob09 said:

 

My understanding is if my full time CPT is under 12 months (which in a school/education based job, it most likely will be), then my 12 months OPT is still available to me. Is this correct?

No, time you use of CPT is discounted from OPT. This is why I think you need to find a way around the "Action research". If you use it during your masters you won't be able to have practical training afterwards. 

 

Edited July 26, 2017 by Coco8

[Coco8 1,042]

By the way, the people I know that use CPT do it during the summer. You cannot have a full-time CPT and be a full-time student. For F1 you have to be a full-time student; otherwise your F1 will be terminated.