One point to add is that if taking AP English is stressful and time-consuming it would interfere with other activities and interests. If you want to think about admissions (and I don’t think admissions should drive these decisions), chances are extracurriculars will be more important than taking that class and the class could limit commitment to EC’s or other interests.
As for the essay, we tried not to make a big deal about the essay and two out of three of my kids did them in December. I know a lot of kids do it in the summer but it really isn’t necessary and some kids need the deadline 
There are a lot of posts on this forum about conflict between parent and kid with the parent pushing for essay early on and it is not worth the cost to relationships.