How to Calculate Your GPA (Weighted, Unweighted and Cumulative)
Grade points, credit hours, weighted honors scales and cumulative GPA explained, with a worked example and tips for raising your average.
Your grade point average condenses a semester or a whole degree into one number between 0 and 4. Colleges, scholarship committees and some employers use it as a quick filter, so it pays to understand exactly how it is calculated.
Step 1: convert letter grades to points
Most US schools use this 4.0 scale:
| Letter | Points | Typical % |
|---|---|---|
| A / A+ | 4.0 | 93–100 |
| A− | 3.7 | 90–92 |
| B+ | 3.3 | 87–89 |
| B | 3.0 | 83–86 |
| B− | 2.7 | 80–82 |
| C+ | 2.3 | 77–79 |
| C | 2.0 | 73–76 |
| D | 1.0 | 65–69 |
| F | 0.0 | Below 65 |
Some schools award 4.3 for an A+; check your school's handbook.
Step 2: weight by credit hours
A four-credit course counts for more than a one-credit course. Multiply each course's grade points by its credits to get quality points.
Step 3: divide
GPA = total quality points ÷ total credits
Calculus (4 credits, B+ = 3.3) gives 13.2 points. English (3, A = 4.0) gives 12. Chemistry (4, B = 3.0) gives 12. Art (2, A− = 3.7) gives 7.4. Total: 44.6 points over 13 credits = 3.43 GPA.
Weighted GPA
Many high schools add extra points for harder classes to reward students who take them: typically +0.5 for honors and +1.0 for AP or IB courses, so an A in AP Biology counts as 5.0. Weighted GPAs can exceed 4.0. Colleges often recalculate an unweighted GPA from your transcript, then consider course rigor separately.
Cumulative GPA
Your cumulative GPA combines every semester. Do not simply average your semester GPAs unless each semester had the same credits. Instead, add up all quality points and all credits across semesters, then divide.
Fall: 3.2 GPA over 15 credits = 48 points. Spring: 3.8 over 12 credits = 45.6 points. Cumulative = 93.6 ÷ 27 = 3.47, not the simple average of 3.5.
How much can you raise your GPA?
The more credits you have completed, the harder your GPA is to move. A student with 30 credits at 3.0 who earns a 4.0 over the next 15 credits raises their GPA to 3.33. A student with 90 credits at 3.0 doing the same reaches only 3.14. That is why strong early semesters matter so much.
Practical tips
- Focus effort on high-credit courses; they move your GPA the most.
- Use the final grade calculator before exams to see what score you need for the letter grade you want.
- Check your school's policies on retaking courses. Some replace the old grade, others average them.
- Pass/fail courses usually do not count toward GPA.
Enter your courses in the GPA calculator, one per line, to get your GPA instantly.