@sorghum, you are right. And senior year scores do not come in until well after college decisions are done. However, the track records of schools with APs is often on the School profile. Some with more detail than others. At certain schools , most of the kids get 4s and 5s on APs. At others, the best that can be said is that most of the kids “pass” them.
The kids I know from this area without hooks who were accepted to the most selective schools took s lot of APs. That’s how the schools were structured
If you go to a school without all those APs, it eases the pressure on you. You cannot take what’s not offered. You can look good taking one on your own not offered, especially if it’s BC Calc. Having all these APs in school really puts the pressure on the kids in those schools, because , yes, not taking Ap English or BC calc very likely will be held against you.