Yeah, it is an unfortunate policy at some schools to require a less rigorous AP before the more rigorous AP in the same subject, like calc AB before Calc BC, or Physics 1 before Physics C. My district does not offer enough in elementary or middle school for kids who are ahead of the curve, but at least once they hit high school, they let them take all the AP classes they want, no restrictions. One of mine got almost 2 yrs credit upon entering college, and all of them got a good education while in high school.
At our school, AP Psych is the AP that all are encouraged to try, so there are a lot of 1 and 2 scores from the kids who did not want to do any work, but were pushed into it to increase the percentage who took an AP.