I know someone who has a 4.0 but has never taken an honors or AP class. I also know someone else who takes all honors/AP classes but has a 3.5. Who has a better chance of getting into good colleges? The person who takes all honors/AP could easily get a 4.0 but decided to challenge him/herself. So who has a better chance?
The honors kid. Colleges like to see that you are challenging yourself.
The honors student, but 3.5 isn’t so bad. If it were 3.0, I don’t really know. The honors student would probably be learning more, but a lower GPA is hard to overcome if you’re trying to get into selective colleges or get scholarships at less-selective colleges. I’d say take as many honors classes as you can while maintaining an unweighted GPA above 3.5 (or somewhat lower if your school is unusually challenging).
Since there are a couple hundred (or more) “good” colleges, I’d say they have the same chances.