Hello Jae Sang,
I consulted the Berkeley MFE office and here is how they address the issue you brought up:
First, it's important to understand that there is no final decision on the matter. Our International Office is, of course, aware of and on top of the issue, and they summarize their stance here:
"Berkeley International Office is aware of the WashTech Lawsuit August 12, 2015 OPT STEM Extension Summary Judgement and is monitoring the situation as more information becomes available. Since the ruling does not go into effect until February 2016, BIO is continuing OPT STEM Extension processing as usual until further notice. We will keep our clients up-to-date regarding the impact of the WashTech ruling and anticipated new DHS STEM OPT rule via the BIO website and email notifications." (OPT STEM Extensions | Berkeley International Office)
Please note that Berkeley MFE students were on the 12-month OPT for several years and the staff are well aware of how to work within these boundaries. For example, in some cases, students who have offers before graduating have applied for H1-B before the deadline in the year that they graduated, so that they had potentially two chances to apply for H1-B. Also, the H1-B process is a process that students work on with the firm; there may be other visa types that a particular student can continue working under.
It's important to remember as well that the Berkeley MFE program has strong connections in financial centers all over the world: London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Toronto are just a few as well as, of course, New York and the other major US cities. As you probably know already, Executive Director & Assistant Dean Linda Kreitzman has 14 years experience placing international students in the US and other parts of the world. She is uniquely qualified to help our students. These connections give students broad options when searching for full-time positions.
