@menloparkmom Of course the amount of AP courses offered at the school would be taken into consideration. But certainly you would agree that if the school offers 20 AP courses, taking 12 and taking 10 makes no big difference when colleges asses academic prowess, but taking 1 and taking none have a significant difference.
What matters more is where the student’s interests lie and how his/her course selection reflects that, as I have said.
The OP has shown concern that he/she would be seen as a “lesser” student by taking a non-AP (Latin) than an AP. I was simply addressing that concern by stating that taking more APs is valuable, but to a certain extent.
Also, what you called “a sweeping oversimplification as well as being not true” is actually most certainly true. You can’t compare number of APs with students of other schools. But within each school and overall, there is always a diminishing effect of taking more APs. Thus, generally people shouldn’t take more APs just to increase the number of APs on their transcript.
By saying “If only two are offered and a student takes 1 it is not a big deal” you are essentially agreeing with what I am saying.
Admissions officers want to see that you challenge yourself with classes, but up to a certain point they will value less the slight increments in APs and focus on other parts of the application.
so, @veagle18 i would suggest that you take the course that interests you the most, or perhaps gives you the most time for other things. I would imagine that Latin would have less work than AP Stats, but that may not be true. There is no need to further show colleges that you are “well-rounded” as you already have 3 years of a foreign language, nor is there a need to take AP Stats just to increase your AP number. There might be specific requirements for the colleges you are looking at, so that may be a factor. Also, consider your potential college major and how you want to angle yourself.