It is legal and so far it has been safe. You know that the rule for Day 1 CPT requires that when you join, you are associating with a graduate program otherwise you cannot get a Day 1 CPT. The Curricular Practical Training is an integral part of your degree. You cannot finish the degree without the practical training. The other thing is the employer signs the cooperative agreement with the university. The only additional suggestion I have is if you are going to do Curricular Practical Training make it as an adjunct to your profession.
For more information please check my blog.
https://immigration.com/blogs/curricular-practical-training-cpt
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Note: Unless the context shows otherwise, all answers here were provided by Rajiv and were compiled and reported by our editorial team from comments, blog and community calls on immigration.com. Where transcribed from audio/video, a verbatim transcript is provided. Therefore, it may not conform to the written grammatical or syntactical form.
I thank Rajiv and his staff, especially Hellen Anchillo, Richa Narang, and Suman Bhasin, for their help in getting me through the GC process. It is clear Rajiv's office has the whole process nail down and they were very prompt in answering my questions. I always felt I was knowledgeable of my options and the costs and benefits involved in each course of action. I have recommended Rajiv's office to some friends and I will continue to do so in the future.