How Many AP classes should I take?

Students constantly hear that they need to take challenging courses. The message has been heard and there is now a dramatic increase in the number of students taking AP courses across the nation. According to USA Today there has been a 743% increase over the number of seniors a decade ago who took nine or more AP exams. College Admissions officials now want to soften the message, "we want to see students stretch themselves, (but) we've been telling them that they don't need to have every last AP course," says Lee Stetson, admissions dean at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Student need to strive for balance and challenge themselves but still maintain their sanity.