Form W-7 & "resident" tax return

I have no idea what you mean by election. An exempt individual is not subject to the substantial presence test and is treated as an NRA as long as he/she is in compliance with the visa. There is no election available to such an individual. If the individual blows by the 5 year presence on an F-1, then in the 6th calendar year, the days of presence count and that person will become a resident alien if enough days are accumulated.

IRS page says, if you are on an F1 Student Visa,.. You cannot claim the AOTC if you were a nonresident alien for any part of the tax year, unless you "elect to be treated as a resident alien" for federal tax purposes.

I usually don't use IRS Pubs for citation, but let us look what they say. Pub 970 (the pub for higher education benefits, says the following about who can't take the AOTC:

You (or your spouse) were a nonresident alien for any part of 2015 and the nonresident alien didn't elect to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes. More information on nonresident aliens can be found in Pub. 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.

So, let's follow the advice and look at Pub 519 to see who can make the election.

On page 5, it tells you that if you are in the U.S. as a student under an F, J, Q or M visa you are exempt from the substantial presence test and you are an NRA during the exemption period.

The first time any reference to electing to change from NRA to RA shows up is on pages 7 to 9 that deals with the first year choice or last year choice for DUAL STATUS aliens. This has nothing to do with our F, J, Q or M students that are exempt individuals. An exempt individual is not a dual status alien.

The next time we see a reference to electing to change is on page 9 that deals with a nonresident spouse. This also is not relevant as we have a single person.

By the way, I assumed we were dealing with the same person that you referenced in your other post "election statement for a single nonresident alien..."