Advanced Placement (AP) Courses

Advanced Placement (AP) is a program created by the CollegeBoard which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities may grant placement and course credit to students who obtain high scores on the examinations. AP Courses may be taken either independently or at a high school. Colleges' specific guidelines on accepting AP scores for credit and placement can be found at AP Credit Policy database.

The process:

A student need not be dual enrolled to be able to take AP exams at Ames High School (keep in mind that dual enrollment IS required to take the course at the high school). If there is an AP course that a student desires to take that is not proctored at Ames High School, then CollegeBoard will notify the student of the nearest high school which administers the exam. By mid- March, when registration is open, the high school needs to be notified that you wish to take the exam at their high school. 

The Exam:

All AP Exams are administered in the first two weeks of May.

Deciding which AP Exams to take:

Please note that many colleges want students to take their courses and will not honor AP courses if the subject is highly related to their major. For instance, a student pursuing a Physics degree may find that the college requires them to take the Physics course offered at the college or university and may grant credit for their AP Physics qualifying score, but may not substitute for a qualifying Physics course.

AP Courses offered at AHS (Always refer to the Handbook for any changes in course offerings):

AP US HISTORY 10-12

AP US GOVT 12

AP EUROPEAN HISTORY 10-12

AP CALCULUS AB. The BC exam is offered, but extra topics must be covered independently.

AP BIO 10

AP PHYSICS 11-12

AP CHEM 12

AP PSYCHOLOGY 11-12

AP LIT AND COMP 11

AP LANG AND COMP 12

AP JAVA

AP MICROECONOMICS online 

AP STATISTICS  

AP MACROECONOMICS online