"Sorry, but that’s why selective colleges like AP tests – as they are a national yardstick for how well you have absorbed the information in a rigorous class taught across states lines AND how well your high school has prepared you for the exam. FWIW: Every student I know who has been accepted to HYPSM has scored a 4 or 5 on their AP exams. Unfortunately scoring a 3 (or 2) is just NOT a competitive score.
If you have achieved those AP scores with an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ in the classes, that is a “red flag” as Admission will most likely think your high school has grade inflation."
So you are directly contradicting the Stanford (and other colleges) website? It clearly says you don’t have to submit and rarely has it played a significant tole. I agree with you on the grade inflation but Stanford also knows a lot of tutors exist for doing well on the AP test and many teachers teach the test in the class as opposed to fundamental subject matter. And as someone pointed out earlier, there is too much unevenness among high schools wrt APs, some offer a ton, some just a few, some maybe none. Some only allow students to take it senior year, some don’t allow any freshman year. I know a lot of students who got rejected from Stanford who had 5s on every AP, like 10 of them. There’s no correlation, much less causation.