Change Status from J-1 to F-1 and J-1 waiver from DOS waiting time

[britz1955]

Dear all, I have some questions as follows and if you have some experiences and if you happen to have knowledge about the following issues, I would appreciate if you can share with me.
My current status is : Embassy already forwarded No Objection Statement on March 27th 2009 but until now I have not seen any update on waiver status check website. I am worried because I want to change status to F1 soon because I am going to attend school at the end of August.

1.Do you think I have enough time to get the waiver before I can change of status?

2.If do not manage the get the waiver on time, is it easy to get F1 while applying in my home country?

3.How long is the waiting time to receive the favorable recommendation LETTER from DOS after DOS has approved in the website?

4. Can I proceed with the change of status while waiting for the favorable recommendation letter from DOS to arrive?

5. I am going to change status from J1 to F1 to attend school in the fall 09(August 24th) and my J1 expires in Oct 13th 2009. How long does it take to change status from J1 to F1? What is the lead time that I should give for the change of status before the school starts?

6. I am worried of changing from J1 to F1 in my home country while I am waiting for J1 waiver. Does the waiver affect the application of F1?

7.Can I start filing for change of status without favorable recommendation letter from DOS?I just use the favorable recommendation from the internet

Thank you very much in advance for reading my posts and I appreciate your replies.

-A