I am in a big dilemma after completing my bachelor a month ago. I applied for OPT, and its not there yet. All the Universities are going to start from January.

--->  If my OPT is denied , will I be out of status (F1) ?

---> How soon do I have to apply for master to remain in F1 status ?

I talked with USCIS and 4 different people give me different answers. If anybody has gone through this problem before , please help me.