First of all thank you so much for the people actively helping others in this thread.
I have one question. My Case # is AS18XXX. I know this is bad considering this years progression of CN's. But, looking at previous years, seems like I might be current on the month of April/May. I am hoping next year it won't be bad as this year, since I am on F1 status, and I want to do AOS instead of CP. So my question is that, how bad is my case number, from anyone who has a good knowledge about the case numbers for each region.
Nobody can really tell you anything you don't already know by looking at the previous visa bulletins.
Also, on a side note, I asked my international advisor at school about the implications on applying to OPT, after sending the DSP 122 to the KCC, and he said there's none. He said don't worry about that, but he said there might be a slight chance that my F1 will not get re-stamped if I leave the country, and tried to come back.
DSP122 is sent to the KCC which is part of DoS. USCIS is under DHS. So chances are, you won't run into problems just for sending DSP122. But being careful does not hurt. If you need F1 visa abroad, you can be sure that consulate knows that you won the lottery and sent the DSP122, so it is really up to them to issue the visa or not. It is too risky for my taste so I would sit tight.
Thanks again aos13 and Sm1smom