U.S. CPT Restrictions +$100K H1B: is it worth it for international undergrads anymore?
High schooler from Canada who wants to keep the IB/finance door open—yes I know I'm a bit early.
With the new restrictions on CPT affecting which international students can intern + work in the U.S., is it still worth applying to U.S. schools for undergrad? Also, I imagine the looming threat of the $100K H-1B fee makes int'l candidates less attractive.
My goal would be to study/intern/work/live in U.S. banking eventually, but if internships are off the table with CPT paused at most schools I'm looking at (top business schools + top econ programs) + the H-1B fee, I imagine the standard internship --> offer --> FT pipeline is effectively over for internationals.
At the same time, it would really suck to blow all that money on a degree and make connections in the U.S. only to have to return to Canada to work for 70 cents on the dollar.
Thoughts? Is it still worth it to shoot my shot with U.S. schools, or should I just stick to Canada and hope to lateral to the States one day? Is it worth thinking about London IB as an option?
