I understand how you are feeling. It's hard to be motivated when you see your only path as going to a school that you don't think is your 'ideal' school. But think about it this way - What will waiting get you? Will your situation have changed or will you be right back in your same scenario a year from now, if you take a year off? I settled for a school that I didn't really want to go to because I saw it as my means to an end. My chances of transferring the following year to one of the schools that I really wanted to go to was going to be better if I applied having some credits under my belt, even if it wasn't at the school I had hoped for.

If I were, and if you have the money to afford the application fee, I would apply to the selective school(s) that you want to go to. In my opinion, college admissions are really a mixed bag - you never know what spot the school is looking to fill, what talent they hope to represent within their student body, etc. You won't know if you don't try, so I say go for it.