^yes in these circumstances it’s different and the number of AP’s expected will be lower. You’re supposed to do the best you can with the hand you’ve been dealt so if your school offers 7 APs total including Calc AB OR BC and two foreign language AP (of which you obviously could only take one), then if you have 4-5 you’re absolutely in the “most rigorous” category. AP Lit is NEVER considered “necessary for elite colleges”. AP Lit and AP Language are often seen as “either/or” by colleges, witness the fact colleges rarely give credit for both. AP Lit is seen as necessary-if-offered for students who want to major in the Humanities (such as English, COmparative Lit, Foreign language, History, Philosophy) in the same way Calculus should be taken by future engineers if at all possible. However for others it is not a “must have”, especially if they had AP lang. If your GC won’t budge, offer perhaps an alternative, such as a community college dual enrollment freshman class in English. Surely that’d be enough?