Studying without Student Visa

[Matra]

My apologies if this question has been asked before! My circumstances are a little unusual so I thought it best to post a new thread.

I am an American citizen who has studied in Italy. The school is unique in that it only accepts students on the basis of trimesters, and each trimester is under 90 days. When I applied for a student visa in 2013, I was told it wasn't necessary because the program was under 90 days. However, my plan was to apply for a second trimester of school while in Italy and stay for 5 months total. My school made a special circumstance for me and accepted me for two trimesters in advance so that I could obtain a visa.

Before the visa expired, I returned home to the US and stayed here for around 100 days. While I was in the US, I applied for another trimester of school and was accepted, but only for that one trimester. I expected it to be my last trimester of school, so I did not apply for a student visa. I went to Italy with only my passport and left before 90 days elapsed.

I wonder if this was acceptable to do, to study while I was only considered a tourist? I thought it was at the time, but now I am running into difficulty getting a student visa for a longer period of study in Italy and wonder if I have made a mistake. Thank you for your help!

[danisara]

As long as you obey the 90/180 rule which applies to tourist visa, going to school does not represent any problem. I am not aware of any law that would forbid attending a school while having the tourist visa status. If you look at the fundamentals of the problem, what is the difference between attending school and taking a guided tourist bus ride around the town? Both activities can be considered educational, yet taking a guided tourist bus ride around the town is what tourists often do.