But that requires you to be among the best in your field. It's a pretty high bar.
Surprisingly, the bar is not that high. They have weird rules like people who are "good" in your field need to recommend you, you need to have something published somewhere. The nitty gritties mean that say a random fashion model who has appeared on some magazine somewhere can suddenly become an alien with extraordinary ability.
I've helped put together a few, all successful. You are right that it isn't as hard as it might seem at first blush. You can get through some mid to late career professionals who are fairly successful in their chosen field, even if it might be a stretch to call them extraordinary. But the OP sounds like someone just out of school.
The heart of the petition is the need to provide evidence for at least three of the following:
1. Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence.
2. Membership in associations which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their fields.
3. Published material in professional/major trade publications or major media about the alien and relating to the alien's work field.
4. Participation as a judge (individually or as a part of a panel) evaluating the work of others.
5. Original scientific, scholarly, or artistic contributions of major significance.
6. Authorship of scholarly articles in professional journals or other major media.
7. Artistic exhibitions/shows.
8. Leading role within an organization/establishment with a distinguished reputation.
9. High salary/compensation for services in comparison to others.
10. Commercial success within the performing arts, as shown by either box office receipt figures or cassette, compact disk, video, or DVD sales figures.
I'm currently a sophomore and I might satisfy these - any idea if these would work?
3. I've been covered on CNN, Quartz Magazine, Business Insider, Valleywag
4. This one seems a bit iffy - I control entrance into a pre-accelerator program (would this count?)
8. Founded and currently running Startup Exchange at Georgia Tech. I'm not sure how they determine distinguished reputation, but I run a pre-accelerator program, and I'm about to launch a student-run venture fund. (this might also fly as #2)
Any idea if I'd qualify?
Also, getting extraordinary entrepreneurs to recommend me definitely wouldn't be an issue.
It's impossible to make a complete evaluation based on what you've provided here, but I'd lean towards no.
One problem is that I don't know exactly how you'd define the field. That turns out to be a critical step in putting together a persuasive narrative.
The other thing, at least on the cases I worked on, we never had a case that was just sort of scrapping by. We got a 2-3" binder and filled it with evidence. We tried to hit as many categories as possible, not just the minimum, and in each category provided more than one example.
On the other hand, I only worked on a half dozen, and they were all successful (although we did get an RFE on one), so I can't really say I know exactly where the line is.
Thanks for describing this specifically. Quite a few PhDs and some Masters students would definitely qualify for this. There are many folks who get stuck in the H1B labor farms who could be out there making amazing shit if not for this situation.
Comments
Surprisingly, the bar is not that high. They have weird rules like people who are "good" in your field need to recommend you, you need to have something published somewhere. The nitty gritties mean that say a random fashion model who has appeared on some magazine somewhere can suddenly become an alien with extraordinary ability.
I've helped put together a few, all successful. You are right that it isn't as hard as it might seem at first blush. You can get through some mid to late career professionals who are fairly successful in their chosen field, even if it might be a stretch to call them extraordinary. But the OP sounds like someone just out of school.
The heart of the petition is the need to provide evidence for at least three of the following:
1. Receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence.
2. Membership in associations which require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized national or international experts in their fields.
3. Published material in professional/major trade publications or major media about the alien and relating to the alien's work field.
4. Participation as a judge (individually or as a part of a panel) evaluating the work of others.
5. Original scientific, scholarly, or artistic contributions of major significance.
6. Authorship of scholarly articles in professional journals or other major media.
7. Artistic exhibitions/shows.
8. Leading role within an organization/establishment with a distinguished reputation.
9. High salary/compensation for services in comparison to others.
10. Commercial success within the performing arts, as shown by either box office receipt figures or cassette, compact disk, video, or DVD sales figures.
I'm currently a sophomore and I might satisfy these - any idea if these would work?
3. I've been covered on CNN, Quartz Magazine, Business Insider, Valleywag
4. This one seems a bit iffy - I control entrance into a pre-accelerator program (would this count?)
8. Founded and currently running Startup Exchange at Georgia Tech. I'm not sure how they determine distinguished reputation, but I run a pre-accelerator program, and I'm about to launch a student-run venture fund. (this might also fly as #2)
Any idea if I'd qualify?
Also, getting extraordinary entrepreneurs to recommend me definitely wouldn't be an issue.
It's impossible to make a complete evaluation based on what you've provided here, but I'd lean towards no.
One problem is that I don't know exactly how you'd define the field. That turns out to be a critical step in putting together a persuasive narrative.
The other thing, at least on the cases I worked on, we never had a case that was just sort of scrapping by. We got a 2-3" binder and filled it with evidence. We tried to hit as many categories as possible, not just the minimum, and in each category provided more than one example.
On the other hand, I only worked on a half dozen, and they were all successful (although we did get an RFE on one), so I can't really say I know exactly where the line is.
That makes sense. I guess it isn't one field per say - the media was for computer security, but the rest is all about helping entrepreneurs.
Thanks for describing this specifically. Quite a few PhDs and some Masters students would definitely qualify for this. There are many folks who get stuck in the H1B labor farms who could be out there making amazing shit if not for this situation.