Advanced Placement

Here at Rowlett High School we offer advanced placement courses in a variety of subjects. Students enrolled in these college-level courses may take an exam in the spring, the results of which are used by many colleges and universities to award college credit. 

Taking Advanced Placement courses

Interested in Taking an AP class at RHS?
Learn more about AP courses at RHS (PDF). 

AP gives a student the opportunity to tackle college-level work at the high school level, and to gain valuable skills and study habits for college. If the student gets a high enough score on the AP exam, there are many colleges nationwide that will give credit or advanced placement for the student's efforts.

The hard work that a student puts into an AP course really does pay off - in the form of college credit, money saved in college, the chance to study a subject in depth, and more. Colleges look at the type of coursework a student takes in high school to help determine admission. This gives them a good picture of how hard a student is willing to work.

Most major universities rank the following in this order as to what they consider for admission and scholarships. 1. SAT or ACT score; 2. The level of courses taken in high school; 3. Grade point average.

Advanced Placement courses offered at RHS

  • Art AP

  • English Language AP

  • English Language APDC

  • English Literature AP

  • English Literature APDC

  • Calculus AB AP

  • Calculus BC AP

  • Statistics AP

  • Biology AP

  • Chemistry AP

  • Physics 1 AP

  • Physics 2 AP

  • Physics C AP

  • Environmental Science AP

  • Human Geography AP

  • World History AP

  • US History AP

  • US History APDC

  • Government AP

  • Government APDC

  • Economics AP

  • Spanish 4 AP

  • Psychology AP

  • European History AP

  • History of Art AP

  • Drawing AP

  • Computer Science AP

 

Being successful in an AP course

You have to be willing to study and study some more. You have to be willing to spend the time that it will take to make a passing grade and to prepare for the College Board exam. You have to be willing to complete all of the necessary reading. Therefore you must really think carefully whether to enroll in an AP course. Just because you have been in pre-AP and honors classes during your time in school does not necessarily mean that you should enroll in all AP classes. Once you make the commitment to enroll, you are enrolled for the term of the course. This bears repeating: Once you are enrolled in an AP course, you cannot withdraw unless the teacher recommends that your should be in another class. This means that the teacher feels that you have tried your very best, turned in all of your work and have attended tutorials. The work being too difficult, not liking the teacher, not having the time to spend studying, are not sufficient reasons to ask to be taken out. We will not reward laziness by taking a student out of an AP class.

Taking the AP exam

Our philosophy at Rowlett High School is that since this is a college course and there is a standard assessment that evaluates the student's learning, 90% of the students will take the national test. If the student is not passing the course but still wishes to take the College Board test, this will take a teacher recommendation. But the student must still take the final exam in that class which means a released AP exam.

Questions about AP courses

Please contact your students AP teacher with any questions regarding the curriculum and requirements of the AP course. The campus coordinator the AP testing program is Jena Montgomery.