My [15 F] teacher [30+? F] is out to get me

Aw geez, that sucks that it's too late. I didn't realize registration was so early.

Other people have been saying that you need to talk to someone other than the counselor and I agree with them. Do what /u/totomaya said and ask a different English teacher who oversees the other English teachers. If it's not a head of the department, it's still somebody. Don't give up on this until you figure it out. Then tell that person as objectively as possible, and without speculating on your teacher's motivations, about the instances of unfair treatment and how it's affected your grade.

Example:

Good: "I did X assignment to the specifications of the rubric that she gave us, and she gave me a 1/10 for not following the specifications. Here is the rubric she gave us and here is the assignment with the 1/10."

Bad: "She keeps giving me bad grades because she hates me."

Good: "I want to take AP Euro next year, but she's told me that she won't recommend me for it. Is there any way around the recommendation requirement? For example, could I do some kind of extra project that would demonstrate my ability to succeed in that class?"

Bad: "I told her I wanted to get into AP Euro and she thought it meant I wanted her to lie but I didn't mean it like that."

In other words, don't focus on what your teacher is THINKING, or on WHY she is acting a certain way. Focus what your teacher is DOING.

I know you'll be disappointed if you don't get into AP Euro, but it won't make or break your college applications. For the next requirement like this, where there's a teacher recommendation you need to get into a class that you really want to get into, go to that teacher at the beginning of the year and say what I said before: That you really want to get into that class and what are her expectations to secure the recommendation. Then check in, say, every month throughout the year to see if you're meeting her expectations.

It's a tough situation, but no matter the outcome, you will survive, you will learn from it, and you will still get into college.

/r/relationships Thread