This question probably sounds weird because the point of APs is that they ARE the more rigorous courses, but at my school that’s not always the case, particularly in the Social Studies department. Courses like Constitutional Law and IR are considered to be really cutthroat and intense, while AP US Gov and Politics is relatively light and easy. Would it be detrimental to take less APs (I’ll probably take 3 or 4 at most, though it’s worth noting that the most it’s possible to take at my school is 6), in order to take some of the more rigorous courses that just interest me more?
APs are college courses.
Take the more rigorous courses. Colleges look at you in the context of your school. They want to see you challenging yourself with the most rigorous courses, regardless of their label.
Actually, they are high school courses covering advanced (for high school) material that is often the same as or similar to that covered in frosh-level college courses (depending on the course and college).
However, many AP courses at many high schools cover material at a slower pace, so that they cover a college semester’s worth of material over a year in high school. In addition, the format of the course is not the same as a true college course, typically with fewer but longer class meetings and fewer but larger assignments and projects. College courses won’t hand-hold students as much or monitor them as closely to keep them from falling behind like in high school.
In any case, if your high school is one of the few where the AP courses are not the most rigorous courses, and the more rigorous courses are of interest to you, then feel free to take the more rigorous courses.