hey so I am an international student from Africa applying to US colleges for fall 2021 acceptance. Here almost every student creates their own counsellor common app acount or they share one if they are from the same school. They submit their transcript and recommendation letters themselves and just go to colleges. It is a common trend. It is mostly because schools aren’t cooperative and don’t know the US system.
Yes this is cheating. Schools are familiar with how grading works in different countries. If you submit something that doesn’t match what they know they will automatically reject you. If you are somehow admitted anyway, and then they find out, you will be expelled. Don’t do this.