“When it comes to taking AP classes there is a diminishing returns effect. No APs vs taking 2 APs is a huge difference. Taking 2 APs vs taking 4 APs is still a big difference but less so.”
this is a sweeping oversimplification as well as being not true.
colleges look to see how many AP courses are offered. If only two are offered and a student takes 1 it is not a big deal, especially if there was no way they could take it due to scheduling issues or if the student was not allowed to take an AP level classes, due to what “slot” they started in.