Independent study usually means that you aren’t in a typical ‘classroom environment’. This usually refers to being homeschooled. If you are in middle or high school, and you want to get credit for the classes you took, my best suggestion would be to take those classes online. Does your state have a virtual school? If not, you can take online classes from different accredited schools on the internet. If you don’t want to be in an online class, do it by yourself (I don’t recommend this), save all your wok, and contact the school board of your state to see what they require to give you credit. If you’re in a current school right now, talk to your guidance counselor.

Independent study is like distance learning. You would get the credit if the class is from an acredited source (i.e. a college or other).

http://www.cucas.edu.cn/
I will suggest you to apply through CUCAS, CUCAS is a professional online platform for international students to apply for Chinese universities, it has a strong relationship with over 300 universities in China. They do not ask for any fee, the application fee is collect by them but only on behalf of the university, CUCAS also hold social activities for international students so they will not get bored, they always try to think as a foreigner and help international students to solve their problems. Very nice.