<p>Hi. A quick summary of my situation:</p>
<p>I was encouraged to apply last year despite wanting to take a gap year, counselor told me I could just defer once I got accepted. Thing is, the schools I wanted to attend (such as UW), don't do deferrals. I deferred an offer of acceptance from Penn State, but never actually accepted the offer. </p>
<p>This year, I wanted to reapply after having an internship experience that made me want to completely change career/education paths. Emailed counselor to let him know. He said it's the school's policy not to let seniors apply after senior year and that I couldn't. At the time I thought "too bad, I'll just apply independently." I spoke to my teachers who gave me recs last year, and another person at the school who gave me the contact info for someone who could send my transcript out.</p>
<p>But the Common App wants all these things like counselor rec's, FENDA waivers (which I have to do on a Naviance account, which my old counselor controls), and school reports, all of which require a counselor.</p>
<p>What should I do? Do I pay thousands of dollars to attend a year at a school I don't want to attend, and transfer later on? Do I contact the colleges and see if my teacher recs, transcript, SAT scores, and essays etc. will be enough? Can I actually submit essays and whatnot on Common App without the school forms?</p>
<p>The counselor is very capricious and his mood determines quite a lot. I know other seniors from my school with a different counselor who are being allowed to reapply. I know, however, that if my parents were to complain, it would affect the recs and information he gives my new schools. Plus I am leaving for a trip on Friday, so I was hoping to send everything out in the next few days. Please help :(</p>