I agree with this and have never said that a student shouldn’t take AP’s, or even self study an AP if the reason is valid. As others have mentioned, AP classes will help with course rigor. A high score on an AP exam will help to validate the course rigor, while a low score may raise questions as @T26E4 said. Additionally, for students who plan to attend school with liberal AP policies, accumulating college credit can be beneficial. Self studying for an AP class that the school does not offer and which interests the students can also show initiative.
Having said all that, again with the caveat that I do not work in admissions, for the admissions process, I don’t believe that that AP classes and/or scores will move the needle significantly. YMMV.
Here is my issue. A while ago I read a post from a kid whose school did not send a lot of students to top colleges. However, the school across the road in a different district, did. Same socio economics, same number of legacies.
One difference, at their school to get a B or even a C in AP Physics or English (I forget) was normal and the school was known for grade deflation. These same kids scored 4 or better on the AP exam. The school across the road sent way more to HYPS and many kids would get 100s in AP classes. They would then score a 1 or 2 on the exam. Guess which ones got into better schools?
My kid is taking AP Chem now. K is getting in the very low 90s on exams. After much hard work K had the second highest scores in the class for this quarter. That just should not be. Then the school wonders why no one gets in HYPS
@T26E4 while your school may not take them, the other 19 top schools will.
While I would like my kids to be well prepared for college (which I think they are) I personally do not care what they get on an AP exam if the colleges they apply to do not care. Most colleges I would like them to attend do not give much AP credit anyway. I also think that how you do on an AP is a function of you and also a function of how well the teacher taught to the test.