Day 1 CPT at Sofia University – Student Review

Sofia University become more and more popular these days among international students for its day 1 CPT programs. It went through a minor reform recently, during which the tuition fee was dropped, and the CPT application requirement was updated. You don’t need to enroll in a separate CPT class to get your day 1 CPT approval at Sofia now.

With all these changes, Sofia’s day 1 CPT programs allow students to use CPT 365 days a year without a gap with tuition as low as apx 18,000 dollars for the entire program. If you want to learn more about Sofia University and its day 1 CPT policies as well as programs, you can check this page out. In this article, we invited a student from Sofia to share her experience studying at Sofia:

Fin’s OPT expired last June before she enrolled at Sofia for the summer semester. Since then, she has been “working while studying”. She chose Sofia’s MBA program because she works in marketing. Her JD matches Sofia’s course description perfectly, which made CPT application quite easy. When choosing programs, be aware:

o   Your Day 1 CPT program must be as related as it can be to your job description.

o   Your Day 1 CPT program must be as different as it can be from your last degree.

Regarding CPT policy, if you are a transfer F1 student, meaning you have a SEVIS number already, you are allowed to apply for CPT on the first day of the program. However, if you do not have a US degree and want to come to the US directly, you need to wait nine months before applying for CPT and cannot start on the first day of the project. CPT is updated every semester, and you can also do full-time CPT during the vacation quarter.

*Please be aware, day 1 CPT is not an official term. It refers to the possibility of applying for CPT on the first day of your study. However, the CPT application requires processing time, mostly you can get the approval within a week after the semester started assuming you handed in all materials as requested.

Application & CPT Approval Timeline

In Fin’s case, she applied for the MBA day 1 CPT program at Sofia on May 15th last year and received an offer on June 12th. Then, she submitted the request for SEVIS transfer on the second day. Approximately a week later, her SEVIS transfer was completed, and her new I-20 from Sofia was in place.

I started preparing my CPT application materials and received my CPT I-20 three days later. According to my CPT I-20, I can only start working after school starts, which is July 5th.  However, my OPT is already over. After discussing with HR, I took a leave of absence and could not receive a salary during the gap. I resumed work on the 5th.

Day 1 CPT Application Materials

Fin listed the documents she prepared for applying to Sofia University below

o   Application Form

o   Previous I-20

o   Passport

o   Visa Records

o   Resume

o   Personal Statement

o   Transcript of my last degree

o   Bank Statement (above $30,417)

o   $50 Application Fee (Waivable if you apply through www.day1cpt.org)

Fin got her first master's degree in the U.S. If you were not, you still need to provide an English language test result.

When applying for CPT, add an offer letter and a CPT agreement to the list above. Fin said, “You really need to talk to your HR and make your job description fit your program. Most HR will do that for you if your employer accepts CPT as work authorization.”

Day 1 CPT Experience

There were two campuses at the school, one in Palo Alto in Northern California and one in Costa Mesa in Southern California. I lived in Southern California, so I went to the Palo Alto campus. It is located close to Irvine. Irvine has many nice restaurants.  

I need to take two courses for each semester to maintain my F1 status. One course was fully online with recordings and no attendance required, and about one hour of homework per week. Another was hybrid, with five classes per semester, three on-site and two remote. Overall, the workload and on-site classes were not too stressful for me. However, it is important to choose the “correct” teachers! Some instructors are more empathetic toward CPT students than others. And it makes a big difference when choosing the “right ones”.

How do I know which professor to choose? I joined a Sofia University CPT student WhatsApp group. We share information in the group. Also, www.day1cpt.org provided me with this student evaluation tool. They really helped me a lot throughout the application as well as the CPT approval process.

In the past, Sofia only accepts students who are in California. However, this has changed since 2022. Now, Sofia can enroll students from 27 different states, including:

·       ARIZONA

·       ALASKA

·       CALIFORNIA

·       COLORADO

·       CONNECTICUT

·       FLORIDA

·       HAWAII

·       IDAHO

·       IOWA

·       KANSAS

·       KENTUCKY

·       MICHIGAN

·       MISSISSIPPI

·       NEBRASKA

·       NEVADA

·       NEW JERSEY

·       NORTH CAROLINA

·       OHIO

·       PENNSYLVANIA

·       SOUTH CAROLINA

·       SOUTH DAKOTA

·       TENNESSEE

·       TEXAS

·       UTAH

·       VERMONT

·       VIRGINIA

·       WASHINGTON

If you are interested in Sofia University, talk to our experts to see if it is the best choice for you.

Free Day 1 CPT Programs Consultation