my understanding is if you are on OPT right now and your h1 gets approved, your status will change to h1 on october 1, i.e, if you do not stay unemployed from april 8th till september 30 for more than 90 days ( remember, this rule is a bit complicated...my understanding is, those who were already on OPT by april 8th, their 90 day rule thing starts from april 8th).

in case, you started your OPT from last May or sometimes when your original OPT is about to expire now or will expire before October 2008, in that case, you are eligible for CAP-GAP RELIEF. In that case, i am not sure what you need to apply or where you need to apply, but this is what needs to be done. you do not need to go to graduate schoo.

do one more thing, talk to internation student advisor in your school, just to make sure whatever you are reading in sajha is correct. Not saying that I am giving you BS answer, but I might have missed some part..