This year, I am taking 7 AP courses and 2 Magnet courses. I am really struggling at AP English (86%!!!) and I am getting really really stressed. I am contemplating dropping from AP to Honors, but I am worried this will negatively affect decisions for the University of Chicago if I get deferred. How bad will this affect admission chances?
How are you applying ? ED/EA/RD
ED
@Dankjewel my kids have told me that AP Lit and Comp (12th grade course at their school) is significantly harder than AP Lang. and Comp. (the 11th grade AP Eng. course). An 86% is not going to tank your admission - esp. if you are applying ED (since they don’t see your sen. year grades at that point). Shoot for decent grades and understand that you might be challenging yourself signficantly more this year than in other years. UChicago will take that into account. They are not like a large flagship that assesses admission primarily on GPA.
Yes, but if I get deferred, I will surely have zero percent chance of getting in if they find I have a B. If I get to honors, I can at least push that upto an A minus or A
Where did you hear that you needed a 4.0 in order to be admitted RD? That’s news to me. Sure - a very high GPA helps but one B amidst a bunch of A’s with a tough course load isn’t going to tank your chances. BTW if you get in expect to get a lot of B’s once you arrive 
Now if you are getting a C, that’s probably a different story.
Edit/Update: if you are deferred and this is your #1, be sure to communicate that to your AO.
If you get deferred after applying ED, your admission isn’t going to hinge on one grade. It’s going to be a function of who else is in the pool. That said, if switching to Honors will make an already stressful year less pressured, then go for it. 6 AP courses is certainly a rigorous load and that particular AP will be useless to you from a credit or placement perspective.
What should I communicate? That this uni is my number one?
If you get waitlisted, the odds are substantially against you anyways, regardless of a single grade. You current work load itself shows you are not afraid of hard work. As you know, your application is viewed holistically.
86% is that with the curve or without ? I wouldn’t worry either way.
Have you submitted your application already? If not, make sure your it reflects what your transcript will show wrt what courses you are taking (I.e. list Honors rather than AP if that’s what you’ll be given a grade for). I don’t know what your HS’s add/drop policies and deadlines are. Is this is a change that will take place now or starting second semester?
^^Good point. ED deadline is Nov. 1 so if you switch to honors from AP make sure that’s done by then in order to prevent questions. Any uni, not just UChicago, is going to require an explanation if the transcript shows different courses from what you describe in your application. Also - and this is just speculation, mind you - they may assume you were actually flunking AP Lit/Comp and that’s why you switched.
As to what to communicate, it’s simple: let them know you will attend if accepted. And mean it.
I haven’t dropped the class yet. I cannot drop the class until this quarter is over and apps are submitted. My counselor , who already uploaded my transcripts WITH AP English, suggested if I get deferred, I send them an explanation regarding the difference in transcript
The mid year report will have the updated courses
@Dankjewel - yes, you will need to do that. You’ll have to weigh the benefits and costs of switching to an easier course mid-year. As your AP grade will be on the transcript, there is no worry about them thinking you were flunking and pulled a switcheroo. However, the higher grade will be offset by a less difficult overall course load so hard to understand the net benefit here. Agree with @exacademic here - do it if it releases some pressure on an already stressful year. Don’t do it merely because you think it’ll help your chances compared to getting a B or B+ because honestly, it most likely won’t.
The AP grade for the first quarter is not on the transcript. Our school only puts semester grades in the mid year report. However, the honors English grade (if I drop out) will be on there instead
^^ Then you’ll want your GC to provide your progress grade for the AP class so that you don’t appear to be hiding something like a C or worse.
Guidance counselor said that he will explain my situation. If I was failing AP, I could not get above a B in honors anyway
Just a question before I drop finally. If I decide to do so tomorrow, do I have to immediately inform all colleges or can I wait until ED/EA is out?
Taking a stab here so this is just opinion - by the way, be sure to check the website for guidance AND bounce that one off your counselor before taking action. Seems it would be best to let your admissions rep. know now, instead of risking an evaluation w/o current courseload information. If it’s a big-enough deal to possibly tank your chances currently, it will be a big-enough deal to reverse an accepted decision later on. If you checked the box that says all information is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, and then you switch out of a course the following week w/o updating them, your attestation is clearly false and that could be grounds for a reversal of an acceptance (if you are applying for fin. aid. it could even be a violation of law). Don’t mean to scare you - just want you to think through possible consequences of not being upfront and honest. Do a web search, talk to your counselor, then take appropriate action. BTW, this has nothing to do with whether you actually SHOULD switch out. Do that for your own health and well-being.