Hi, so I’m currently a sophomore in an accredited distance learning school. The AP classes are through CTY Online, and because of required courses, prerequisites, and the way that my school has it set up, I can’t take any AP classes this year. My family is moving soon, and the public school is very good, so I’m planning to enroll there and take APs. Will colleges not like that I didn’t take any APs this year or last? I see people taking 5 sophomore year on here. I know that I could self-study, but is it too late for that?
Most HS’s limit the number of AP’s freshmen and sophomores can take for the exact reason you mention. Colleges are well aware of it.
The users on this site are not a representative sample of college-bound HS students.
Colleges do not want you to self study AP’s; they want you to take the most rigorous program you can handle within the constraints of your school’s curriculum.
From what I’ve seen, most people take the majority of their AP classes junior and senior years. The most common Freshman and Sophomore APs seem to be Human Geo, Psychology, World History, and Physics 1, and although these are definitely all attractive to admissions officers, I don’t think any of these are as important to admissions officers as APUSH, AP English Language/Literature, or AP Calculus, and these are generally taken junior/senior years.
Even taking all of this into consideration, I would really try to add a lot of rigor junior year to prove that you are capable of handling advanced classes (AP English/History/Science + honors math + upper-level foreign language is a good schedule skeleton I’ve seen), because you are slightly behind other students. I’ve never met a sophomore who has taken five APs at once, but most competitive applicants I have met have taken at least two or three by the time they reach sophomore year, those APs being the very first four I listed in the last paragraph. Just don’t go overboard, though, because doing poorly with a challenging schedule may validate the idea that you were not able to handle challenging coursework in ninth and tenth grades. Due to a bunch of issues with scheduling and guidance, I had very few Honors classes and not a single AP class during my first two years of high school; last year, I went insane and I took 3 APs + 2 Dual Enrollment at my HS + 3 Honors + 2 MORE dual enrollment over the summer and I survived with all As and 1 B, but I believe this was far more stressful than necessary. My senior schedule is actually a bit worse (5 APs + 3 Dual Enrollment each semester + Spanish IV Honors), but half of my classes are online, so I actually feel less overwhelmed than I did last year.
You’ll be evaluated in the context of your school- the idea is to maximize rigor by using your school’s resources to the best of your abilities. As long as you do that, and do it well, you’ll be fine.
Hi, thank you for your response. Its really reassuring to get some advice from other students kind of in the same position. 
I plan to take some dual enrollment at the college there (probably Anthropology and Psychology) over the summer, and my school has a one semester psychology course that I’m going to enroll in when the next semester starts. May I ask what online class program you are using? Mine only accepts credit from CTY Online, which sucks because the courses are 1. very expensive and 2. have required live sessions that are really early in the morning (2, 3 and 4 am) for me. I’m also thinking of a cultural anthropology major, and I’m sure as hell going to take Human Geography and all those fun social studies APs. 
Spend your time this year preparing yourself to take APs next year. As everyone says, colleges don’t expect sophomores to take college level courses.
colleges will know that you couldn’t take any APs
it wont be used against you