Are AP and Honors classes vital when it comes to getting accepted in colleges?

If you are interested in being admitted to a middle of the road private or public, then taking APs, IBs, DE and Honors classes are not that important. So if you are a B+ student and want to go to ASU or Alabama or Clemson, I wouldn't worry about it.

Advanced course rigor demand goes up proportionately with the ranking of the schools you are applying to. The amount you need if you are keen on applying to Ivys, Elites, Top LACs and top Tech schools goes up with the ranking. Even some large State schools like UGA are more an more competitive these days. If you are applying to Yale or Columbia or MIT, I'd say the avg amount of advanced level courses is about 9-12 these days. At UGA last cycle, the middle 50% of admits had 7-12 APs. The same goes for UWGPA, Test Scores and ECs. The higher the ranking, the better the grades, the more impressive ECs and the higher test scores you need.

That is the reality regardless of whether the college policy is a holistic review. All Ivys are Test options last, this and next year however about 70% still submit test scores so that gives them a key advantage over those not submitting. Same with APs and IBs, DE and Honors. At Harvard, there are no requirements to have these classes. However unless you are an ALDC (recruited athlete, legacy, development candidate, child of staff), 99% have some impressive course rigor and AP test scores to back them up.

Good luck.

Taking Honors and AP classes aren't needed to get accepted to colleges, but there vital if you want to get into a selective college. That being said, it doesn't matter if you don't take Honors or AP classes. You'll still be accepted into college. However, for selective colleges, if you don't take any Honors or AP classes, you probably have to have very good extracurriculars, ACT/SAT scores, and GPA.