parimala - Sorry to see this thread has gone unanswered.Kknowing what a pain the US immigration system continues to be despite promises of reform I know all too well how hard it can be to get some sensible advice on these seemingly simple questions without shelling out hundreds or thousands on attorney fees. 

The answer to your question is you have to speak with the dean of studies or their equivalent at the specific program that you are interested in. I know from several first-hand accounts that this is decided on a case-by-case (case = individual program, not individual student btw) basis and that the definition "4.0902 -  Architectural and building sciences / technology" is deliberately vague. So basically it appears (I may be wrong here) that each program doesn't know whether they're eligible or not until someone has posed the question to the USCIS and they have evaluated the course curriculum. There is not to my knowledge a comprehensive national list of eligible degrees. Presumably the degree has to demonstrate a certain level of technology / science content for it to be admissible under OPT STEM extension rules. Harvard's MDes, for instance, is eligible, while RPI's M.Arch is not. I know this from people who attended and either got or didn't get OPT STEM extension based on the respective program's content. They basically had to try before they would find out if it would work or not. (The schools did not seem to know the outcome for certain before students had asked and/or tried, by the way.)

Hope this helps, good luck.

FWIW, with my accredited M.Arch degree I was advised in 2013 that I definitely did not qualify for the OPT STEM extension. I don't know anyone who got this with an M.Arch... Sorry, it is tough nuts.

empea : Thanks for a detailed reply. Really appreciate it. I will talk to the school individually to find out if their course is eligible for STEM extension

Lian Chikako Chang: Which school did you graduate from? Was it a 3 yr or 2 yr program?

I don't understand Architecture is such a technical field, why isn't anybody contesting this?

Because architecture is not Science, Technology, Engineering, or Medicine.

Sure, it has some overlap in those fields. But it is not those fields.

So the degree does not qualify for that specific visa type.

Make sense?

parimala: No problem. Hope it works out for you.

BenC - there is no black and white answer and this is the whole point of the OP: architecture does qualify according to the USCIS' own list ('4.0902 -  Architectural and building sciences /technology', full list link above) but it only applies to select architecture degrees.

The issue is that since architecture, as you rightly point out, is not in and of itself the same as either of the STEM disciplines but tangent to some of them to varying degree, it's unclear what exactly it is that qualifies some degrees and disqualifies others. The example I was making was that many architectural degrees do not qualify for STEM, but the MDes (Master of Design Studies) from Harvard GSD does qualify (I know several people doing this right as we speak). This is in spite of the fact that the GSD is 100% an architecture school and the MDes is a degree in architecture and nothing else. So the criteria are unclear and probably need to be investigated for each individual degree and school.

Sorry parimala, only seeing this now. I had a 4 (technically 3.5) year M.Arch.I from the GSD. 

thanks @empea & @lian Chikako Chang.

@ankitdarda -  Which school are you from?

In the STEM List there's also the 15.1303 Architectural Drafting and Architectural CAD/CADD, so I guess anyone apllying for architectural studies (M.Arch I, M.Arch II ...) can get the OPT STEM. This is what I understood from this list, I dont have 100% sure information though !!! More clarification would be nice :DD 

Thanks assma.

From what I have researched and understood all across is it really depends from program to program. Most places Master of Science in Architecture is more likely to be eligible than Masters in Architecture.

Yeah It makes more sense since STEM is about scientific fields, It would'nt hurt to try though, got nothing to lose i guess :DD Thank you for responding 

It also depends on what kind of job position/title you are offered. Some architectural engineering positions do qualify a STEM extension. I also heard that some schools start changing M.arch degree to STEM program now, like WUSTL and Columbia. So soon more schools are going to do the same. Good luck!