H1 Visa

My company applied for an H1 visa for the past year and it got rejected on the grounds that the hiring pattern concluded that about 23.5% of the positions for that designation did not require a technical degree. Is that fair? Also what are other plan of actions that I could possibly take while in this problem, I'm currently on F1 visa and my practical training expires in june end. My company is applying for H1 for the october 2000 start date but i'll be unemployed for 3 months. I was also thinking if I would join college, i would not run the risk of being out of status. But then say while on F1 from september start(quarter begins), some company offers me H1 sponsorship in october end or so then I wouldn't be able to start until I complete my first quarter of studies
to be in status, is that true ?
Also another possibility i heard is that if my current employer or any other for that sake applies for my H1 before june end (practical training expiration date), then i could stay in USA until i recieve reply from INS. Say if the reply is negative, do I have to leave the country the very next day or can I still have options to join college or go home in another 15-20 days ?
What are the other alternatives & suggestions ?

I am in exactly the same situation as you. I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what you found out. You can see my email address in my profile.
What I've done so far is apply for a couple of other jobs at companies that sponsor H1s.
However, I'd be unemployed for a couple of months, so I'm also looking at some college programs in Chicago to become a student in the meantime. Another thing I did was go to www.aila.org, which is the association of immigration lawyers. There tehy can refer you to a lawyer in your area. The initial half hour consultation is under 50 dollars. I still haven't heard from them, but I hope to do so pretty soon. Once again, I'd really appreciate it if you told me what you found out. Good luck and keep it up. Hope to hear from you soon.

I am in exactly the same situation as you. I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what you found out. You can see my email address in my profile.
What I've done so far is apply for a couple of other jobs at companies that sponsor H1s.
However, I'd be unemployed for a couple of months, so I'm also looking at some college programs in Chicago to become a student in the meantime. Another thing I did was go to www.aila.org, which is the association of immigration lawyers. There tehy can refer you to a lawyer in your area. The initial half hour consultation is under 50 dollars. I still haven't heard from them, but I hope to do so pretty soon. Once again, I'd really appreciate it if you told me what you found out. Good luck and keep it up. Hope to hear from you soon.