Well I can share my traumatic experience of trying to get graduate Dd a visa for Italy. She was a graduate and had a place at a bona fide university (not a pop up language college). The course met all the official requirements for a student visa such as amount of hours per week.
i had to pay for everything up front before getting the visa as you need it as part of the requirements to get the visa, so i had bought plane tickets, a year’s health insurance, paid for the first term of the course. Had every piece of paperwork necessary and she was turned down for her visa, 3 days before the course started. She appealed and lost the appeal. I lost a load of money, never got anything refunded, thousands £££.
Apparently they are having a big clampdown on non EU students. They will only allow so many, so somewhere there’s some unofficial quota. You can meet all the requirements, have all the proof and they can just say no.
Getting a visa appointment was near impossible. It’s not the consulate you want. Are you using the VSF global website? Iirc it will only work when there are available appointments. I seem to remember stalking the website early morning, like 6am and then just refreshing. Dd had to go to London a few different times, was sent away from her first appointment as she didn’t have enough bank statements, had to return a few weeks later with more bank statements to prove she had enough funds for her stay. Wish they could just have said no earlier on. I remember she did rock up to Manchester to try and get to talk to someone at the vsf place there and was sent off with a flea in her ear, so no they certainly won’t see you.
good luck, you will need it.