Add each course’s credits and letter grade to the GPA calculator for your term GPA, then your GPA so far and its credits for the new cumulative GPA. Courses are saved only in your browser.
Calculate your GPAThe 4.0 grade scale
Most US high schools and colleges convert letter grades to points on this scale for an unweighted GPA. Plus and minus steps are 0.3 apart.
| Grade | Points | Grade | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ or A | 4.0 | C | 2.0 |
| A− | 3.7 | C− | 1.7 |
| B+ | 3.3 | D+ | 1.3 |
| B | 3.0 | D | 1.0 |
| B− | 2.7 | D− | 0.7 |
| C+ | 2.3 | F | 0.0 |
Some schools give an A+ 4.3, and some don’t use plus and minus at all. Your transcript or student handbook says which; the calculator lets you choose 4.0 or 4.3 for an A+.
Unweighted GPA, step by step
GPA = total grade points ÷ total credits
- Turn each grade into points. Use the table above: a B+ is 3.3.
- Multiply by the course’s credits. A 4-credit course counts four times as much as a 1-credit one.
- Add up the grade points and the credits. Leave out pass/fail and withdrawn courses; a failed course counts with 0 points.
- Divide. Round to two decimals at the very end, not along the way.
A college term with five courses:
| Course | Credits | Grade | Grade points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | 4 | A− (3.7) | 4 × 3.7 = 14.8 |
| English | 3 | B+ (3.3) | 3 × 3.3 = 9.9 |
| Statistics | 3 | B (3.0) | 3 × 3.0 = 9.0 |
| Art | 2 | A (4.0) | 2 × 4.0 = 8.0 |
| Physical education | 1 | C+ (2.3) | 1 × 2.3 = 2.3 |
| Total | 13 | 44.0 |
44.0 ÷ 13 = 3.3846, a term GPA of 3.38
A simple average of the five grades would give 3.26. Credits are why the real answer is higher: the A− sits on a 4-credit course and the C+ on a 1-credit one.
Weighted GPA
A weighted GPA adds extra points for harder classes, so an A in an AP course can count for more than 4.0. There is no national rule for the bonus. Each school district sets its own, and a common pattern is +0.5 for honors and +1.0 for AP or IB courses. Check your school’s policy before using these numbers.
A high school semester using that pattern, all courses 1 credit:
| Course | Grade | Unweighted | Weighted |
|---|---|---|---|
| English (honors) | A | 4.0 | 4.5 (+0.5) |
| Biology (AP) | B+ | 3.3 | 4.3 (+1.0) |
| Algebra II | A− | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| US History | B | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Spanish | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| GPA | 3.60 | 3.90 |
Unweighted, the points add up to 18.0, and 18.0 ÷ 5 = 3.60. Weighted, they add up to 19.5, and 19.5 ÷ 5 = 3.90. The GPA calculator works out the unweighted figure. For a weighted one, add the bonus to each course’s points by hand as above, or ask your counselor for the school’s official weighted GPA.
A weighted GPA can go above 4.0, which is why some transcripts show figures like 4.3 or 4.6. It isn’t comparable between schools that weight differently, so colleges may set the school’s weighting aside and recalculate from your grades, as the University of California does below.
Cumulative GPA
Your cumulative GPA covers every term so far. Don’t average the term GPAs. Rebuild the grade points instead:
Earlier grade points = earlier GPA × earlier credits
Cumulative GPA = (earlier grade points + this term’s points) ÷ all credits
With a 3.20 GPA over 45 credits before the term above: 3.20 × 45 = 144.0 earlier points. Add the 44.0 from this term and divide by 45 + 13 = 58 credits:
(144.0 + 44.0) ÷ 58 = 188.0 ÷ 58 = 3.2414, a cumulative GPA of 3.24
Averaging 3.20 and 3.38 would give 3.29, which is wrong because 45 credits outweigh 13. Your credits so far are on your transcript, often as “GPA hours” or “quality hours”.
How far one term can move it
The more credits you already have, the less one term moves the cumulative figure. Suppose the student above, at 3.24 over 58 credits, takes 15 credits next term and wants a cumulative 3.40:
Points needed: 3.40 × 73 = 248.2. Already earned: 188.0. Needed this term: 60.2 ÷ 15 = 4.01
That needs better than straight A’s, so 3.40 can’t be reached in one term. A target of 3.30 needs 3.30 × 73 = 240.9 points, so 52.9 ÷ 15 = 3.53 for the term, which is possible. Run the same three lines with your own numbers before setting a goal.
How colleges recalculate it
Colleges often recompute your GPA their own way, so your school’s number and theirs can differ. The University of California is a published example. For its admissions GPA it:
- uses only A-G courses taken in the summer after 9th grade through the summer after 11th grade;
- ignores plus and minus: A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1;
- adds one point per semester of UC-approved honors courses, such as AP and IB Higher Level, with a maximum of 8 honors points across 10th and 11th grade and no more than 4 from 10th grade;
- gives no extra point for a D or F in an honors course, and doesn’t round the result.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting credits. Every grade has to be multiplied by its credits, or 1-credit labs end up counting as much as 4-credit lectures.
- Averaging GPAs. Term GPAs only combine correctly through grade points and credits.
- Counting pass/fail or W courses. They normally earn credits towards graduation but no grade points.
- Repeated courses. Some colleges replace the first grade, others count both. Check the catalog.
- Rounding early. Keep full numbers until the last step. The official GPA is always the one on your transcript.
To turn a test score into a percentage first, the percentage calculator does it in one step.
Sources
- University of California Admissions: GPA requirement. Which grades count, honors points and the 8-point cap