Would starting school full time in 2016 on August 17th still count me as a full time student?

[TomK]

Yes.  According to IRS Publication 970 at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf:

"You are a full-time student for 2016 if during any part of any 5 calendar months during the year

you were enrolled as a full-time student at an eligible educational institution (defined earlier), or took a full-time,on-farm training course given by such an institution or by a state, county, or local government agency."

The 5 calendar months don’t have to be consecutive.

Full-time student.   A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance.

School defined.   A school can be an elementary school, junior or senior high school, college, university, or technical, trade, or mechanical school. However, an on-the-job training course, correspondence school, or school offering courses only through the Internet doesn’t count as a school.