Since I also did a big comic project for my college thesis last year when I graduated college, I can relate. I made a 100-page first volume to an original story in 4 months. It was hard but i got it done and was proud of it.
Here's a list of what you need to do based on what I did/my process. Feel free to adjust to your own pace/workflow.
1) Make a loose outline of what you want your story to be. Nothing fancy or structured. Just get to typing about what you want. Or maybe record yourself talking. It helps to get the thoughts out messily first and then reorganize all of what you just spit up. Type or talk about your characters, how they'll go through the story, what specific cultural anxieties your want to focus on (cause I'm guessing you're not planning on talking about all of them...) and how those anxieties will move your character through some kind of arc or at least satisfying revelation by the end of the comic. Remember to keep it messy and don't delete stuff. Just get all your jumbled thoughts someplace that can be revisited.
2) Make an organized outline. Now that you've thrown up a bunch of ideas, start digging through them and pick out what your story will actually consist of. Remember it's better to focus on a clear, singular character and arc than trying to tackle a whole bunch of stuff that you don't have enough time to devote to equally. Focus on DEVELOPMENT. People like to feel like something was accomplished after reading. Even if it's not the end of everything, at least move towards something satisfying. If you focus on that, then you'll be able to easily find what you need in your story and what you don't. Your outline should also include character profiles and such. And if this is a short comic I would focus on what aspects of the character are necessary to the story.
3) Write a summary. Now that you've got some bullet points of what your story will be, it's time to write a detailed summary that will be used when writing your script. Some people will just jump straight from outline to script, and you can do that too, but if your outline still feels a little threadbare then write a paragraph-structured summary of the story to flesh things out.
4) Write the script. This step should explain itself. But, all four of these steps, I think, should take about a week since you're crunching for time. Your messy thoughts and outline should take the longest. After all of that, writing the script is basically just getting the dialogue down since the plot and basic gist of the characters is already done. While doing step 1 I'd suggest taking breaks and watching media or reading media that you think would inspire you, that way you have plenty to thrown into the stew pot.
5) Now that your script is done and a new week has started it's time for visual development. Chances are while doing your outline you already started developing some visual images in your mind. But still research is important. Take a day to compile images off google or whatever you use to do visual research. Watch some documentaries on youtube. All that jazz.
6) After research comes concept art. Which includes drawing locations and character designing. I'd suggest switching so you don't get scenery drawing burnout or character drawing burnout. Always remember, though, if you're doing this comic in color, character designs that have the three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) always feel better. I wouldn't give each color equal billing, though. But like have a character with a primary blue and red outfit, but then have a few yellow buttons or something. And it doesn't always have to be red, blue, and yellow respectively. It can colors close to that. Like a purple in substitute for blue or pink in substitute for red. This is, of course, if you're gonna have them in the same outfit the entire time, and this might not work if you're going for super realism, but just something to keep in mind, I guess. If anything, at least utilize complementary colors when choosing hair and eye color.
7) Now you're done with week two. You've got the story, you've got the world, you're ready to start those thumbnails. I've got two suggestion to this. First, keep it small. It's good to be able to draw the page as a whole and see the layout from a distance so drawing it small helps you focus on appealing page layout and not so much with unnecessary details during thumbnailing. Second, look at manga. Even if you don't read/like manga. It's layout it far more experimental and interesting than the "multiple boxes" that dominate western comics. At least give a few reputable manga a glance.
8) Thumbnailing should take about 1-2 weeks. It's the most important step. Everything else is just dressing it up, really. Do your sketch over the thumbnail, ink it, color it, or if no color then add some gray tones and shadows. Since your low on time you might consider just adding gray tones, but then remember that your linework needs to have a lot of varying weight and expressiveness to make up for the lack of color, and having the art style be a bit more cartoony might help offset the absence of color as well as it lends itself easier to more appealing linework.
Aaaand, I guess you're done after that?
Extra tips!
-When doing the outline to your story and the thumbnailing, remember to think about pacing. Add some slow moments, don't run breakneck through everything just because it's a short comic. Quiet and slow moments are needed in every story.
-Make sure the dialogue is good. Bad dialogue is a big reason why I quit most comics.
-I can't stress enough to say that less is more in terms of what to focus on narratively. Have a clear theme and play it through.
-Stay on schedule. like i said, spend a week just working on the writing, a week on world development. Since you're down the wire you've just gotta accept that you've got a lot of work to do and you'll be working a lot on this from now on. Make it fun by having it be a story you truly enjoy with character you like hanging out with. When i draw my comics I feel like it's as if i'm hanging out with my characters when I write their dialogue and draw their expressions, so it's fun. And if you're characters aren't someone you wanna chill with well...maybe look at that.
Um...I think that's it? I feel like I missed a lot but I also wrote a lot so I'm hoping there's something in there you can chew on and perhaps swallow.