<p>of course .</p>
<p>hey b@r!um, let’s say i’ll be attending an undergrad business school, from which I will recieve a degree in finance, and I also decide to double major in math (which will appear on my degree), will i still be able to get that 17 month OPT extension? normally, i would’t be asking this question because a math major automatically gets that extension, but since my degree will be awarded by a business school (not from the college of arts/science), i’m confused about whether or not a math major from on abusiness school degree qualifies for OPT extension…thanks!</p>
<p>As far as I know Stern does not offer a math major. You would have to double-major through CAS, in which case you would get an ‘actual’ math degree anyway. I hope that answers you question.</p>
<p>I think there are two things to be aware of though.
- To qualify for the 17-month OPT extension, your post-graduation job has to be related to your math major.
- It is only an “interim rule”. There is no guarantee that the general 17-month extensions will still be available once you graduate.</p>
<p>yea thats what i meant, i will double major through CAS, but my degree will be awarded by Stern, which will have finance + math on it, eventhough i will be taking my math classes in CAS…so hopefully a business school degree with math on it will qualify for that OPT extension</p>
<p>i think quant positions in investment banks are pretty much math related, so the immigration lawyers shouldn’t have a hard time justifying how math is related to the job function lol</p>
<p>The way the rule is currently stated it does not matter where you get your math degree from. </p>
<p>However, a job in investment banking is definitely not what the American government had in mind when they implemented this rule. (And believe it or not, math does not have a lot to do with investment banking - you will see that when you get to higher level courses.) It is pretty clear that the rule will be revised in the not too distant future, especially given that DHS/UCSIS/ICE have been stressing that is only an interim rule and have explicitly asked for suggestions on how it might be improved. One of the likely changes would be that you do not only need a STEM degree but have to work in a STEM field.</p>
<p>If you want to double major in math, please go ahead and do so. But don’t force yourself through Real Analysis and Abstract Algebra just to find out later that you will not be eligible for the OPT extension anyway.</p>
<p>lol thats what the website says, and thats what an academic advisor told me!..double major and dual degree are two different things…since i’m just going to be awarded one degree, it will be from Stern, which will say “BS in Finance and Mathematics”…so its not really a BBA in math, its BS…but what im confused about is that will the immigration people consider my degree as a finance degree or also as a math degree? since its being awarded by a business school, i’d expect them to regard it as a finance degree despite the fact that it will have math on it…other schools like U Penn just give you a separate degree in math, instead of having both your fields of study on one degree, but at NYU, dual degrees are not offered. Instead, we get degrees with both our fields of study on it, so im not sure whether or not my degree will count as math or finance</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters which college the math degree is awarded from as long as it is in math.</p>
<p>But do you really <em>want</em> to double major in math? Regardless of your major, your OPT can be extended long enough for you to get a H-1B work visa (which also is a “dual intent” visa; under certain circumstances you are allowed to pursue a permanent resident application).</p>
<p>Phew - complicated man. I am also intending to double major in maths (or econs) so this will actually be very helpful for me too, thanks!</p>
<p>P.S. quag_mire in post #26 replied to my original phrasing of post #25 which included the sentence “I have never seen a BBA in math before.” I deleted that paragraph before I saw that he replied to it because I realized it was not relevant to the issue at hand.</p>
<p>yea, i need an undergrad math major to get admitted to graduate finance programs. So if my degree indeed is considered to be in math, and my job function is math related, I should have 29 months of OPT correct? wow, thats more than 2 years, which means i have 2 shots at applying for H1B…meh, but i doubt an undergrad math degree is sufficient to land a quant job…most of them require graduate degrees</p>
<p>Just to let you know, a statistics major also counts as a STEM subject and it would be a LOT easier to find a quantitative job w/o grad school than with a general math major!</p>
<p>I think you’re assuming i meant MBA when i said “grad school” lol…i actually meant grad school in financial engineering/mathematical finance, which im sure fall under STEM. So im pretty sure I can get the OPT extenstion even with my graduate degree ;)</p>
<p>When you said you needed a math major for grad school in finance, I assumed you did not mean an MBA. But I have to disappoint you, mathematical finance, financial engineering, or anything else finance related does not count as a STEM subject. STEM subjects are about science/engineering/technology, not business or finance. If you want to convince yourself, here is the official list of eligible subjects/majors: [STEM</a> Designated Degree Programs](<a href=“http://www.ice.gov/sevis/stemlist.htm]STEM”>http://www.ice.gov/sevis/stemlist.htm)</p>
<p>W.T.F?!? wait, that list includes Mathematical Statistics and Probability, Statistics, General and Mathematics, General. If my graduate degree is called “Mathematics in Finance”, which includes statistics, probability etc, then why wouldn’t it qualify for the OPT extension…or maybe i should do a masters in operations research lol…anyway, the only thing i will miss out is an OPT extension, it’s not like it stops an employer from sponsoring me for an H1B or anything…more than 60% of the students in those grad programs are foreigners, and have no problem placing into top investment banks/hedge funds, so I don’t think it should be that much of a problem</p>
<p>“Mathematics in Finance” is most definitely NOT an eligible degree, exactly because it is not about general math or statistics but about math for finance. Again, the purpose of the OPT extension program is to make it easier for foreign scientists to work in the US.</p>
<p>But as you have pointed out yourself, there is nothing that stops you from getting a regular H-1B to work in the US. With a graduate degree you don’t really need the additional OPT anyway (there are additional H-1Bs available for people with grad degrees, so the competition is not nearly as fierce).</p>
<p>This thread is interesting. Are you saying that having a finance concentration in mathematics doesn’t count as a STEM field?</p>
<p>apprently she is. i think that anything finance/business related, no matter how mathematical or scientific it may be, won’t be part of STEM</p>
<p>i saw that actuarial science is on the list…
there are schools that put it in business school, some put it in liberal arts/sciences…
so, can it/can’t it?</p>
<p>To be honest, I was somewhat surprised to see actuarial science on the list, too. It appears to be the only business-related degree that counts as a STEM field. Currently actuarial science counts as a STEM field regardless of which college it being taught by.</p>
<p>btw clam_chowder do you go to JIS?</p>