I found this from UC’s website
“Because your primary purpose is to pursue employment/an internship/practical training, any study while on OPT must be incidental. This means you cannot be studying full-time and you cannot be obtaining a new degree or certificate. If you enroll in such a program, your OPT will automatically terminate.”
Long story short, I got a B.S in Mechanical Engineering, currently on OPT, and I really want to take more classes.
First of all, the word “incidental” is ambiguous. Can any classes be incidental including Mechanical Engineering classes if it’s a part time study while I’m on OPT?
Second of all, say I took a few undergrad courses that were incidental, then can I use these credits when I later apply to a master’s program?
Third, this is not directly related to my main question, but, here’s the question - I’m considering getting both M.S(Master’s of Science,both research and course based program) and M.E(Master’s of Engineering - course based Master’s degree program).
And I want to get 1+2 (in total of 3year STEM OPT) for each - which turns out to be 6years if I get both of them at the end(get one degree and obtain 3year, then get next degree and obtain another 3year STEM OPT)
Would this work? Is either of them considered as a higher degree than the other when it comes to OPT eligibility?
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/m9syx7/definition_of_incidental_study_while_on_opt/