As you can probably tell from my username, I attend a middle college high school, meaning that I have the opportunity to take nearly all of the community college classes available while in high school. However, the school obviously doesn’t offer APs, just Honors in the ones that we have to take at the high school. I’ve done all that I can to give myself the most rigorous coursework and right now in my Junior year have a 3.98/4.34 GPA. Because of the nature of my school, it becomes impossible to bring my GPA up much higher than what I have now. Will this put me at a disadvantage when applying to elite schools such as Penn, Georgetown, or Johns Hopkins?
It depends. Consider that AP courses attempt to cover what are generally college frosh level courses (although AP courses may take a year to cover what a college course covers in a semester). Then consider what level your college courses are (examples are given for math courses):
- Above college frosh level (e.g. multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations): should look better than AP courses.
- At college frosh level (e.g. single variable calculus): probably seen similarly, but check the transfer credit pages of each college you apply to in order to see whether they give more credit and placement for AP scores versus college courses taken while in high school. If it differs, that indicates that the college sees one as being better than the other.
- Below college frosh level (e.g. precalculus, trigonometry, "college" algebra): should be viewed as high school level courses (which they are).
Also keep in mind that if your school does not offer AP classes, no one can fault you for not taking any. You’re taking the most rigorous courseload available to you, right? And doing well in those course? That’s the main thing. Take ucbalumnus’s advice above regarding the level of your CC courses if you really want to make sure you’re in the best possible position, but it sounds like your GC is already going to be ticking the “most rigorous” box on her Common App report. I would not stress out about not having APs.
However, if a student attends a HS with no AP classes but lives near a community college that offers DE/PSEO for free, yet that student DOES NOT enroll as a dual enrollment/PSEO student, then that student would be faulted for not taking any community college class at Top 25 universities and LACs because it would indicate a lack of interest in academic challenges and being satisfied with a low-expectations high school.