My HS junior daughter is taking 5 AP classes and wants to drop 1. She has a 4.3 average to date. She has not done anything that sets her apart like discovered a cancer cure or is headed for the Olympics. She is not foreign and is white and privileged.
She is terrified of dropping that one AP course as she feels it will ruin her college acceptance rate.
Is it still possible for her to get into an Ivy League?
Which AP? What others is she taking? What are her stats?
Yes, assuming this change does not impact the GC’s rating of the rigor of her schedule. For absolutely no college is there a rule that the one with the most AP wins. Everything is in context. 5 APs for most juniors would be overkill.
That said, why does she want to drop and which class, and what would she replace it with?
5 AP classes can be a lot depending on which classes they are. Other than making sure the GC still checks of the highest rigor box, one less AP class is not going to be what keeps her out of a T20 school.
Personally I think that the advantages of attending an Ivy League university for undergrad is overrated. I think that we put too much stress on high school students, and keeping one’s sanity in high school is an important goal to keep in mind. I would encourage her to drop the AP, and don’t worry about what it will do with regard to university admissions. There are a lot of very good universities.
I went to graduate school at a very highly ranked university (#1 in the world for what I was studying), and there were students there in the same program who had done their bachelor’s at a wide range of other universities. As far as I can recall most or all had come from a “top 100” university, but relatively few had come from “top 20” universities. You can get into a “top 100” university with no APs at all. What they had in common was that they had done very well as an undergrad, and had not run up a major debt that kept them from affording to go to graduate school.
Actually, one daughter had a friend who went to an Ivy League university out of high school with no APs at all.
But since that is not what the OP asked, I know we’re not going to go off on a tangent on this thread. 
Taking AP -USHistory, Calc AB/BC, Language and Composition, Biology, and Spanish. She took AP Chemistry last year.
If she wants to drop 1 AP class because 5 is too many… then I would support that decision. Managing stress is important. Students at our HS do not take 5 APs at once… it’s not allowed. As mentioned… the number of AP classes is not what matters. It’s about what the GC checks off …and HS context is important. What class is it, and do most students take 5 AP classes? To me… it sounds like too many.
She wants to drop AP Spanish. She passed Spanish 3 by self study over the summer so that would get her into AP Spanish. She is lost in the class. From all of your great responses, I can see that dropping Spanish and going into Spanish 3 is no big deal. Thank you!!! And yes, Ivy League is not a requirement.
That’s fine. Taking an AP course and tanking will not serve her well.
This is one of the dangers when students try to rush through the curriculum. Good luck to her.
The person to speak to to answer your question is your D’s guidance counselor and not any one of us. The very top tier colleges will want to see the guidance counselor check the box saying she has taken the most rigorous curriculum available at your HS. Often there is some latitude in this designation and it does not mean one has to take every AP course available. If there is any concern, your D can speak to her guidance counselor and see if he/she would check that box if the one AP course is dropped.
She should check the recommendations/requirements of colleges she is considering applying to (google the common data set for each school) as some do look for 4 years of foreign language (which means to level 4).
I do agree that her mental well being and ability to do well in the courses she is taking is more important than getting this “most rigorous” designation.
Personal experience is 4 vs 5 APs is meaningless for Ivy addmissions relative to having the time to excel accademically, start college visits, extra curriculars, mental health and of course finding a cure for cancer as you mention.
In terms of targeting an Ivy as long as you go in with your eyes open… absolutely go for it. Each of the 8 schools is unique and wonderful in its own right. Individually and as a whole they offer a host of benefits for those that can achieve addmissions.
You should continue to encourage your daughter to set her sights high, feel empowered to control her destiny, and ignore voices like those above that seek to derail her ambitions.
Colleges (including elites) want to see 4 years of FR or reach the max level (I.e. AP Spanish). As a junior, your D can absolutely do that, taking AP Spanish her senior year and it won’t be held against her. Is there a Spanish 3 Honors she can take this year? As others have said, you should confirm with the school’s GC re what’s required for the coveted “most rigorous courseload” checkbox, but if she has taken Spanish 2 as a sophomore, going into Spanish 3 junior year is only natural. I would not focus on the number of AP’s, but rather use extra time from taking easier class to develop an interesting EC to set her apart from other applicants.
Also, you may want to join the thread for parents of other juniors - class of 2020 - very supporting bunch 
Wishing you the very best!
If she is lost in AP Spanish, she should drop down to regular Spanish. Course rigor doesn’t count for much if you bomb the class.
After reading the list, I would have said to drop the AP Spanish one, as all the other ones are pretty important and is not out of place. So her thinking is right on.