GPA calculator
Calculate a grade point average from any number of courses on the unweighted 4.0 or weighted 5.0 scale, with credit hours taken into account.
| Course | Grade | Credits | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|
Grade point average
3.67
Across 3 courses on the 4.0 scale.
- Total credits
- 10.0
- Quality points
- 36.70
- Scale
- 4.0
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How GPA is calculated
Grade point average is a credit-weighted mean:
GPA = Σ (grade points × credits) ÷ Σ creditsEach letter grade maps to a numeric value, that value is multiplied by the course’s credit hours to give quality points, and the total quality points are divided by the total credits attempted.
The standard 4.0 scale
| Grade | Points | Grade | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ / 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 |
Many institutions cap A+ at 4.0; some award 4.3. This calculator uses the more common 4.0 cap.
A worked example
| Course | Grade | Points | Credits | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calculus II | A | 4.0 | 4 | 16.0 |
| World History | B+ | 3.3 | 3 | 9.9 |
| Organic Chemistry | A− | 3.7 | 4 | 14.8 |
| Public Speaking | B | 3.0 | 2 | 6.0 |
Total quality points: 46.7. Total credits: 13.
GPA = 46.7 ÷ 13 = 3.59Note what the credit weighting does. Dropping Organic Chemistry from A− to B− would cost 4 points of quality points and pull the GPA to 3.28, while the same drop in Public Speaking would cost only 1.4 points and give 3.48. The heavier the course, the more each grade matters.
Weighted scales
On a weighted 5.0 scale, honours and AP courses gain a point: an A becomes 5.0, a B becomes 4.0, and so on down to F, which stays at 0.0. Some schools use a 4.5 scale for honours and 5.0 only for AP, and some weight by half points.
Because the policies differ so much, a weighted GPA means little outside its own school. Admissions offices routinely recalculate applicants onto a common unweighted scale for exactly this reason.
Raising a GPA that is already established
The arithmetic becomes unforgiving as credits accumulate. A student with 90 credits at a 3.2 GPA who takes 15 credits of straight A’s finishes at:
(90 × 3.2 + 15 × 4.0) ÷ 105 = 3.31One perfect semester moves the total by 0.11. This is not a reason for despair - it is a reason to treat early semesters as the ones with the most leverage, and to check whether your institution offers grade replacement for retaken courses.
Common questions
What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?
An unweighted GPA caps every course at 4.0 regardless of difficulty. A weighted GPA adds a point for honours, AP or IB courses, so an A in an AP class counts as 5.0. Weighted GPAs above 4.0 are therefore common, and are only comparable between students at the same school - weighting policies vary widely.
How do credit hours change the result?
Each course contributes in proportion to its credits. A 4-credit course influences your GPA twice as much as a 2-credit one. That is why a poor grade in a lab-heavy science course hurts more than the same grade in a one-credit seminar.
How do I calculate a cumulative GPA across semesters?
Enter every course from every semester with its credits. Averaging semester GPAs directly gives the wrong answer unless each semester carried identical credits - you must return to the underlying quality points and credit hours.
Do pass/fail and withdrawn courses count?
Usually not. Pass/fail credits normally count toward credits earned but are excluded from GPA, and a W carries no grade points. Leave them out. An F, by contrast, almost always counts as 0.0 and does affect the average.
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