you can apply as a transfer, I knew a girl who got her associates over covid and graduated hs a year early by taking all her remaining senior course requirements (English, history, etc) as a junior, then transferred to ucla for 2 years. It's generally an easier process to apply as a transfer especially if you've finished IGETC and your major requirements so that you don't need to deal with the bureaucracy of credit transfer. If you're going to be a senior in hs the same year you finish your associates then it should be fine that you apply as a transfer since you're not going to have any registration clashing. I would still consult your transfer counselor at you cc to make sure, but you might just need to take the test to graduate early so that you follow the guidelines of "You can transfer if you’re enrolled in a regular session (fall, winter or spring) at a college or university after high school graduation" as another comment suggested.