I graduated from (an accredited, American) high school in June 2025 and have been on a gap year since. I was accepted to a language program at an institution abroad that offers MA degrees with third-party accreditation and "fluency programs" that are: 1) not accredited, and 2) award a certificate rather than a degree. I'd attend one of the fluency programs from Fall 2026 to Spring 2028, aiming to apply as a first-year applicant in Fall 2027 on the basis of this experience not being in a degree-seeking program, not granting transferable credit hours, not granting an accredited transcript, etc.
Does anyone know if this would work, or would I likely be classified as a transfer applicant on the basis of having technically enrolled somewhere, regardless of the above considerations? Has anyone met anyone in a similar situation? That is, a somewhat non-traditional student who's time-off included academic work that wasn't at a community college or a four-year.