Hi everyone! I’m a rising senior from Iowa. Here’s my predicament. I’m hoping to apply to some top 20 colleges. My school only offers 15 ap classes and 3 honors classes, of which I’ve taken all 3 honors classes and plan to finish 12 ap classes by the end of senior year. My school does block scheduling, making it hard to miss a day of class since you miss essentially 2 days of material. Last year I missed 50% of the instruction time for AP Calc BC because of my varsity tennis schedule. I still maintained an A in the class, but with a good amount of struggle. I have an off-block scheduled next year in the spot where Calc BC was, so that I hopefully won’t miss so much class. Is this a bad idea? Will colleges view this as me being lazy or not taking advantage of my opportunities? If I added a class, it would probably be AP Biology, and I would ask if my schedule could be rearranged to have a less challenging course in the block that I would frequently miss. I’m not planning on going into anything science related. Any thoughts or suggestions? I’m really stressing about this.
Hi @LibbyJane - this is just one experienced and cynical parent speaking - the outcome of any one set of college applications is unpredictable. You are a great student and an athlete so you will have a shot at your dream schools but that shot may or may not come through for you. We went through similar heartburn last year when my daughter’s GC was telling her she had to take Calculus even though she hates math and was applying to academic and performing arts programs where Calculus was useless. We talked about it and she really felt the pressure from everyone saying she “had to” take math her senior year or her top colleges would look down on her app. Ultimately, she skipped Calculus and I can’t tell you the number of times during last year we looked at each other and said “TG we didn’t listen to the GC!”. It was definitely the right call for her. IMO it is very unlikely that your admission to any one school will hinge on your having a single block free your Senior year. I would say if having the block free means you can rock your other courses, devote time to Tennis and do a good job on your essays and applications while staying relatively sane - you do that. But also - spend some of that time finding some great “likely” schools that are not T20 and will love you to pieces. The only way you can ensure a happy ending to your college search and application is to stay sane, do “you” as best you can and truly - love your safeties. Hope that helps a little. 
I think that I agree with @CaMom13. Senior year is stressful. University applications and visits and deciding where to attend is pretty much the equivalent of another class, if not another AP class. Playing tennis on a serious level is another large commitment. 12 APs in total is a very large number.
It sounds to me like you are doing very well and should be getting into very good universities. Keep your sanity. I think that having one block off is fine.
Do you have a math, English, science, social studies and Foreign language class (if you haven’t aready gotten to the 4th level)? If so, then dont worry about it