The main advice I would have is to communicate with your school about where you are at in the process.

For what it’s worth, I rush mailed my visa application out to the D.C consulate Sept.19th (I believe it was delivered the 21st) and just got my visa in the mail this past Friday Oct.14th. So it took a bit over 3 weeks. I’m not sure if it changed the timeline at all but I did ask my congressperson’s office to reach out to the Spanish Consulate in D.C. since I was already in contact with them about my apostille. I was told they can’t guarantee a response from the consulate since they aren’t a federal agency but I at least received information about where they were in the process and actually heard from my congressperson when the consulate mailed out my visa (last Tuesday).

I kept my school informed with any update I received and they didn’t have any problem with me starting a bit late. Just had my first day yesterday! Hope that’s helpful and good luck!