请问各位老师, H1B layoff this Friday (11/19), to keep legal status.

Hi, Sir/Madam:

I will be laid off this Friday and am currently transferring my H1B to an F1 in a community college.

Different people have told me different sayings, such as:

1) As long as the F1 application receipt date is before my H1b withdrawn date, there won't be a gap and I still have legal status.

2) There will be a gap if the I-20 date or the date of the 1st class is after my H1b withdrawn date. Thus, I am illegal.

3) The gap should be less than 30 days between when my H1B is withdrawn and the date of the 1st class. In my case, I am illegal.

Can you tell me which sayings is correct?

Also will applying community college give the visa officer a good reason deny my F1 application since I already have a Master degree in US?

If it is denied, will it affect my application for F1 visa in future even if I am admitted to a top university?

Several friends did not transfer their H1b after they got laid off, but stayed "illegally" for a while to get a job and returned China to activate the new H1B. Is this way better than transferring my H1B (taking the risk of having F1 application denied but possibly remain legal)?

Is there a way for me to stay legally besides transferring H1B visa to F1?

Thank you very much for your time.

Tom