Enter each course, its grade and its credit hours, and the calculator returns your unweighted and weighted GPA. Add a second semester to get a cumulative figure.
Everything below explains what the numbers mean, because “3.4” on its own doesn’t tell you much until you know which scale produced it.
GPA calculator
Add each course, its grade and its credits. Weighted and unweighted GPA update as you type.
| Course | Grade | Credits | Level |
|---|
Unweighted uses the standard 4.0 scale. Weighted adds 0.5 for Honours and 1.0 for AP or IB courses, the most common scheme — check yours, because schools differ.
Letter grades map to points as A/A+ 4.0 · A− 3.7 · B+ 3.3 · B 3.0 · B− 2.7 · C+ 2.3 · C 2.0 · C− 1.7 · D+ 1.3 · D 1.0 · D− 0.7 · F 0. Percentages convert on the usual 10-point bands. Nothing is saved.
Quick answer
– GPA is grade points times credits, divided by total credits — the calculator at the top of this page does it for you.
– Weighted scales add points for AP, IB and honours courses, usually to a 5.0 maximum.
– Trend and course rigour matter as much to admissions as the number itself.
How GPA is calculated
Every letter grade converts to grade points, each course is worth its credit hours, and your GPA is the average weighted by those hours.
| Letter | Percentage (typical) | Grade points |
|---|---|---|
| A | 93–100 | 4.0 |
| A− | 90–92 | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87–89 | 3.3 |
| B | 83–86 | 3.0 |
| B− | 80–82 | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77–79 | 2.3 |
| C | 73–76 | 2.0 |
| D | 65–69 | 1.0 |
| F | below 65 | 0.0 |
The formula:
GPA = total grade points ÷ total credit hours, where each course contributes grade points × credits.
So a student taking four 3-credit courses with an A, a B+, a B and a C+ earns (4.0 + 3.3 + 3.0 + 2.3) × 3 = 37.8 grade points over 12 credits, which is a 3.15 GPA. A three-credit course moves your average three times as much as a one-credit one, which is why a bad grade in a lab elective hurts less than the same grade in a core course.
Weighted vs unweighted
Weighting schemes are local, and many universities recalculate from your transcript anyway. What you can control is not losing marks to missed work — keeping every deadline in one assignment tracker is the least glamorous GPA intervention there is. When finals arrive, our final exam calculator tells you exactly what each paper needs to be worth.
Unweighted caps at 4.0 and treats every course the same, whether it’s AP Calculus or a study period.
Weighted adds points for harder courses — typically +1.0 for AP and IB, +0.5 for honors — which takes the maximum to 5.0 in most schools.
The catch is that weighting schemes are local. Some schools weight only AP, some weight dual enrolment, some don’t weight at all, and plenty of colleges recalculate everything on their own scale using core academic courses only. So use weighted GPA to understand your own transcript, and don’t assume another institution reads it the same way.
What counts as a good GPA?
Broadly, in US high schools:
- 3.7 and above — strong; competitive at selective universities alongside the rest of an application.
- 3.3 to 3.7 — solid; in range for most universities.
- 3.0 to 3.3 — respectable; meets the threshold at many state universities.
- Below 3.0 — worth talking to a counsellor about, particularly if it’s a trend rather than one bad semester.
Two things matter as much as the number. Trend: a rising GPA reads better than a flat one at the same average. Rigour: a 3.6 with four AP courses is a different document from a 3.9 without any.
How to raise a GPA
Zeroes damage averages far more than poor grades do.
The arithmetic is unsentimental. The more credits already on your transcript, the less a single semester moves the average — which is why senior-year rescue plans rarely work as well as people hope.
What actually helps:
- Protect the high-credit courses. They move the number most.
- Fix the one that’s slipping now, rather than planning to fix everything next term. A C heading to a D is the cheapest thing on the list to change.
- Use office hours early. Teachers can tell you what’s missing in week three; in week twelve they can only tell you your grade.
- Track assignments so nothing is lost to a missed deadline. Zeroes damage averages far more than poor grades do — a single missed assignment can cost more than a bad test.
That last one is a scheduling problem, not an ability problem. Keeping every deadline in one place with MyStudyLife is the least glamorous GPA intervention available and one of the most effective.
Other scales you’ll meet
Scales vary by school and many universities recalculate from the transcript anyway, so treat your number as a guide rather than a verdict. BigFuture is the sensible place to check what a given college actually asks for, and the Common App shows how the transcript is presented. On your side, the fix is unglamorous: keep every deadline in one assignment tracker and stop losing points to work that was simply forgotten.
Percentage systems. Many schools report percentages and convert only for transcripts. The conversion table above is typical, but yours may differ by a point or two at the boundaries.
UK degree classifications. A first is roughly 70%+, a 2:1 60–69%, a 2:2 50–59%. There’s no universal conversion to a 4.0 GPA, though 2:1 is often treated as equivalent to about 3.3.
IB and A-levels. Both are reported on their own scales, and US universities convert them using their own tables rather than a GPA.
Pass/fail and audit. Usually carry credit without grade points, so they change the denominator but not the average. Check the policy before relying on it.
Reading a transcript the way admissions does
A GPA is a summary, and summaries lose information. Admissions readers look at the courses behind it: whether you took the harder option when it was available, whether the maths sequence continued, and whether the grades rose or fell over time.
That’s why a slightly lower GPA with a demanding schedule usually reads better than a perfect one built from the easiest available courses, and why one bad semester in a rising trend is rarely fatal.
Semester GPA vs cumulative GPA
Whichever one you are trying to move, the mechanics are the same: know what each assessment is worth before the term starts, which is what turning your syllabus into a semester plan is for.
The two answer different questions, and students often watch the wrong one.
Semester GPA is a measure of the term you just had. It moves fast, responds to changes in effort and course load, and is the number to look at when you’re asking whether something you changed worked.
Cumulative GPA is the whole transcript, weighted by credits. It moves slowly by design — after sixty credits, one strong semester lifts it by a fraction — and it’s the number most institutions use for scholarships, honours and eligibility.
The practical consequence: fix things early. A weak first year costs more to repair than a weak third year, simply because there’s more time for the average to be diluted afterwards. If your GPA is below where you want it, the most valuable semester is always the next one.
In short
Convert, multiply by credits, divide. Protect the high-credit courses, fix what’s slipping now rather than next term, and never lose points to work that was simply forgotten.
FAQ
How do I calculate my GPA by hand?
Convert each grade to points, multiply by the course’s credits, add it all up, and divide by total credits.
What’s the difference between semester and cumulative GPA?
Semester GPA covers one term. Cumulative covers everything on your transcript, weighted by credits, which is why it moves slowly.
Is a 3.5 GPA good?
Yes — it’s a solid average that keeps most universities in range. How it reads depends on course rigour and trend.
Do colleges use weighted or unweighted GPA?
Both, and many recalculate their own version from your transcript using core courses. Report what your school reports and let admissions do their own conversion.
Does a pass/fail course affect GPA?
Usually not — it earns credit without grade points — but check your institution’s policy, because some count a fail as 0.0.
How much can one bad grade hurt?
It depends on credits and how many you’ve already banked. Early in high school one C is minor; late in college it barely moves the number at all. The calculator at the top of this page will show you exactly.
