Just one data point- for our state flagship your child’s unweighted GPA and standardized test score will be the determining factor in merit aid. The test score is kinda the big differentiating factor as so many kids have very high GPAs.
Now, our flagship will give .5 quality points for honors so a couple Bs will be covered by that weighting. APs are weighted +1 but that ship has pretty much sailed for your child at this point as it is too late to add more than what he has. But the good news is there is a point at which, for many or most of these schools, it is a wash. They apply their own weighting and then a 4.0 is seen the same as a 4.25 or a 4.4. At some point it’s just a great GPA, it qualifies for merit aid, and they don’t try to figure out if a 4.4 is better than a 4.27 or how much better a 4.6 is really.
So, don’t worry about APs not taken. But for our flagship the test score is going to be what scores better merit aid and the good news is, as a junior, he still has time to study for that and get that up as high as feasible.
It is important to know what the schools you are targeting look at. Sometimes they are very transparent! Test scores have been key for us. They GPA has to be there but it is the ACT score that is really bringing the biggest $$ in state for us.