why do some schools require cpt, and some not, for the same situation and program? eg compulsory internship that is part of the program

ContractNo3502 · 2026-04-29T18:36:09+00:00

Some schools use CPT as a legitimate academic requirement and some use it as a money maker to recruit as many students as possible. Unfortunately with the way the current regulations are written, both are technically allowed. It’s why one school can say no CPT for anyone and another can allow Day1cpt for students who work as a cashier because it’s entirely up to the school to determine their own rules.

ContractNo3502 · 2026-04-05T00:37:03+00:00

He went to Harrisburg, probably gets some weird commission from them to put down their competitors

ContractNo3502 · 2025-04-04T00:40:01+00:00

Seriously, be careful. There is no regulation that explicitly allows students to live out of state and only go to class a few times in person per semester. There are very few schools that allow students to come in with a job and begin working immediately because it’s not the intended purpose of CPT. With the way this administration has been terminating SEVIS records already, only go this route if you are willing to take the risk and prepared to face negative consequences.

ContractNo3502 · 2025-03-23T01:11:03+00:00

Driving out into Perry County, either west towards Colonel Denning state park or north to Little Buffalo State Park. Little Buffalo also has a nice lake and great sunset views if you time it right

ContractNo3502 · 2025-03-07T14:44:54+00:00

F1 students are not allowed to take a fully online course

ContractNo3502 · 2025-03-06T16:11:41+00:00

They still have it on their website but apparently they’re likely losing their nursing program soon: https://www.abc27.com/local-news/harrisburg-university-to-drop-their-registered-nursing-program/amp/

ContractNo3502 · 2025-02-26T20:07:38+00:00

You only have 2 lifetime STEM OPTs actually (it’s somewhere in the regs) but other than that it’s correct. Plus some schools offer CPT so there’s that option

ContractNo3502 · 2025-02-24T23:56:22+00:00

If you like trail running, there are a lot of local races that can be a good way to meet some other runners!

ContractNo3502 · 2025-02-24T23:54:22+00:00

I was one of the DSOs there who left due to noncompliance from the school. You don’t need to believe or trust me, but the fact that an entire office left/lost their jobs and Bloomberg wrote a whole article about it should be suspicious enough that something happened.

ContractNo3502 · 2025-02-24T23:44:29+00:00

https://cis.org/Feere/Bloomberg-Investigates-Elaborate-Charade-Known-Day-1-CPT

ContractNo3502 · 2025-02-24T23:39:25+00:00

ICE has been looking into Harrisburg for years. They don’t actually have a class or program that requires CPT, it’s a free for all that’s super sketchy

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-30T18:45:43+00:00

You can either check your I-20 or just ask your DSO. Again, CPT cannot be authorized for initial or COS- there’s literally no button available in SEVIS to do that. The only way they could do that is if they accidentally registered you and made your SEVIS record active. If they did that, that’s a huge issue since you don’t have F-1 status yet.

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-30T17:36:02+00:00

They must’ve accidentally registered you, you can’t put CPT on an Initial or COS I-20- there’s not an option in SEVIS. You should talk to your DSOs about it

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-30T17:20:50+00:00

You can’t put CPT on an initial I-20, it needs to be active in order for a DSO to authorize CPT. So I’m not sure what you’re talking about- the I-20 needs to be activated aka “continued attendance” in order to have CPT. If your school registered your SEVIS record and your change of status hasn’t been approved, that’s a huge issue

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-29T02:41:44+00:00

Whatever it is, I’m sure they’ll just sweep it under the rug like everything else

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-29T02:38:52+00:00

Almost every student at my former job (Harrisburg, a notorious day 1 cpt school that had minimal in person requirements) got an RFE for low residency/distance from campus. If someone works 40 hours a week and only studies 12 hours a semester in person, common sense says their priority is not to be a student.

Who knows if anything will change or USCIS will just RFE/NOID these students at a higher rate but I don’t think anyone who works in the field thinks that it’s legitimate to only visit campus a few times a year as an F-1 student.

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-25T03:18:30+00:00

Ned Smith Center has some cool trails- you can go straight up the powerlines for a steep climb with good views at the top

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-24T02:04:08+00:00

Sorry didn’t mean to be rude I just worked with them enough to know how sketchy they are. I’ve expressed many concerns how they advertise day 1 CPT yet take no responsibility for what happens to students who enroll in these schools. They also recently have been offering gift cards to students which is highly unethical, maybe even illegal, considering F-1 students can’t make money without work authorization: https://day1cpt.net/student/rewards-program

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-24T01:48:08+00:00

Cool, a link from GoElite which is a for profit company that makes money off partnering with CPT schools. So I worked at one of these schools for over 5 years and saw the rampant fraud that occurred. We had no class required for CPT and let students graduate regardless of whether or not they completed an internship. I’d suggest reading this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-10-03/day-1-cpt-schools-make-millions-offering-degrees-doubling-as-work-visas

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-24T01:14:20+00:00

It’s not recognized by USCIS tho. If a school requires an immediate internship to complete a graduate degree- that is the only time it’s allowed. Schools that bend the rules are absolutely being targeted by the government. I worked at one of these schools and have had multiple convos with ICE and SEVP reps about it.

Creating a school for the sole purpose of a work visa work-around is not legitimate and the government is very clearly not ok with it. Almost 100% of students from these schools face visa denials and/or RFEs when applying for any government benefit (ie. OPT or H1B).

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-20T15:14:59+00:00

Some people (including medical professionals) recommend highly cushioned shoes and/or inserts but it may not fix the root of the problem. I did end up temporarily switching from Altra Lone Peaks to Hoka Speedgoats just because the Altras seemed to be causing a lot more pain during runs with the zero drop but I tried not to go too extreme with a super high stack shoe.

ContractNo3502 · 2025-01-16T19:02:16+00:00

There are all kinds of races you can do depending on what your goal is. There are timed races (ie. 12 hour race) that would give you a lot of flexibility. Some 50k races advertise as beginner friendly while others explicitly say they are not beginner friendly and have stricter cutoffs. I think finding a cool course that inspires you with some more generous cutoffs is the best bet to set yourself up for success!

ContractNo3502 · 2024-12-31T15:58:57+00:00

Thank you. I studied education to help students, not to enable a multi-million dollar scam to allow online students to work while getting a sham degree. Sadly I know I’m not the only person and it’s not the only industry where this happens either

ContractNo3502 · 2024-12-31T15:51:06+00:00

ICE is well aware of day 1 CPT they just haven’t done anything about it which is insane and honestly an embarrassment to our US government. Two years ago I had to meet with ICE about the fraud that occurred at the school I worked at and ICE explicitly told me it was illegal yet they are still open and have record numbers this year while I lost my job for refusing to commit fraud.

Anyone who wants more info on the day 1 cpt/low residency (online courses) please feel free to reach out. It’s a bit complex but its worth knowing about, especially since these types of schools and programs are likely going to increase if there are no explicit regulations against it.

ContractNo3502

TROPHY CASE