<p>I’ve read that AP courses are taught drastically differently in different schools, and some schools take them sort of like test prep and hand out grades based on students’ performance in the AP exams (e.g. if student gets a 5 in the AP exam, then they automatically get an A for the class). If that’s the case, I don’t think it’s a reliable way to judge a school’s academic rigor by just looking at how many AP courses offered. As for the academically rigorous private schools without or with limited number of AP courses, I don’t think alleviating students’ stress level was ever a factor in the decisions regarding AP courses. As a matter of fact, high level of stress is a “hallmark” of these schools as overall even the non-honor classes are pretty demanding. While not many such schools use weighted GPA, to stand out or be competitive in college application, students, those with no big hooks in particular would voluntarily take on mostly AP level or post-AP courses by junior year… So IMO, getting rid of AP courses, in these schools at least, is not making it any easier for students. </p>