@tax2020return , the US-India tax treaty ONLY allows for equal treatment for the Indian "student" i.e. treat just like US "student". US F-1 visa requires compliance with "student" requirement. In your case for the year 2018 you were on F-1 and then Oct. through Dec on H-1B. Thus the question about treating you as a student. One could argue that you were a student because of the visa ( F-1 ) but IRS would argue that since you were on CAP-GAP, you were effectively working as an employee ( not trainee ) because you had applied for . approved for H-1B. It is not a battle worth having.
If your whole aim is to be able to use the standard deduction, it would be far easier to exercise the first year choice for year 2018, file an amended 1040 return and thereby achieve your goal without raising the heckles of the IRS. That is my view
