GPA Calculator

Calculate semester and cumulative GPA from letter grades or percentages and credits, with honors and AP weighting and a target GPA planner.

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About this tool

What is the GPA Calculator?

List your courses with a grade and the credits each one carries, and the GPA Calculator returns your grade point average for the term on the 4.0 scale. Grades can be letters such as A-, B+ or C, or percentages such as 91, which are converted with the common US cut-offs. Mark a course as Honors or AP/IB and you get a weighted GPA alongside the unweighted one.

Add your previous cumulative GPA and the credits behind it to see the new cumulative figure once this term is counted. The target planner then works backwards: tell it the GPA you want to finish with and how many credits you still have to take, and it gives the average you need on those credits, or warns you if the target is out of reach.

Courses taken pass/fail or withdrawn (P, NP, W) can stay on the list; they are shown but left out of the average, as most registrars do.

  • Letter grades or percentages with credits per course
  • Unweighted and weighted GPA with editable honors and AP/IB bonuses
  • Three grading scales: 4.0 with plus/minus, 4.3, and whole letters only
  • Cumulative GPA from prior GPA and credits
  • Target GPA planner
  • Pass/fail and withdrawn courses listed but not averaged
Read the guide: GPA and Final Grades: The Weighted Averages Behind Your Transcript

How to use the GPA Calculator

  1. For each course, type the grade (letter or percentage), the credits or units, and choose Regular, Honors or AP/IB. Course names are optional.
  2. Choose the grading scale your school uses and adjust the honors and AP bonuses if they differ from +0.5 and +1.0.
  3. To get a cumulative GPA, enter your GPA so far and the number of credits it covers.
  4. Read the term, weighted and cumulative GPAs and the grade points table.
  5. In the planner, enter your target GPA and the credits you have left to see the average you need.

Worked examples

Five-course term with weighting

Input

English A- (3 cr), Calculus B+ honors (4), Chemistry A AP (4), US History B (3), Spanish A (3)

Output

Unweighted 3.61 (61.3 quality points / 17 credits); weighted 3.96

3.7 x 3 + 3.3 x 4 + 4.0 x 4 + 3.0 x 3 + 4.0 x 3 = 61.3. Weighting adds 0.5 x 4 for the honors course and 1.0 x 4 for the AP course, giving 67.3 / 17.

Folding in previous terms

Input

This term A (3 cr), B (3 cr); prior GPA 3.2 over 30 credits

Output

Term GPA 3.50; cumulative 3.25 over 36 credits

(3.2 x 30 + 21) / 36 = 117 / 36. The six new credits move the average only a little because 30 credits already sit behind it.

Planning for a target

Input

Current 3.0 over 60 credits, target 3.3, 30 credits left

Output

You need a 3.90 average on the remaining 30 credits

3.3 x 90 = 297 quality points needed in total, 180 are banked, so 117 / 30 = 3.9. The later you start, the harder a target is to reach.

Background and insight

A GPA is a credit-weighted average. Each grade is turned into grade points (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 on the most common US scale), multiplied by the course credits to give quality points, and the total quality points are divided by the total credits. A 4-credit B+ therefore counts a third more than a 3-credit B+.

Schools do not all use the same table. Some give A+ 4.3, some drop plus and minus grades altogether, and percentage cut-offs vary; the College Board's own conversion chart, for example, uses whole letters only. The scale menu covers the three variants you are most likely to meet, and you should check your handbook for anything unusual.

Weighted GPAs reward harder courses by adding a bonus to their points, typically +0.5 for honors and +1.0 for AP or IB, which is why weighted GPAs can exceed 4.0. Both bonuses are editable because high schools set their own. Many colleges recalculate applicants' GPAs on their own basis, often stripping the weighting, so the unweighted figure is usually the one to compare across schools.

Common use cases

  • End-of-term check

    Work out the term GPA as soon as grades are posted, before the transcript updates.

  • College applications

    See both the weighted and unweighted GPA so you can report the one an application asks for.

  • Scholarship and honors thresholds

    Find out what grades keep you above a 3.0 or 3.5 requirement next term.

  • Academic probation recovery

    Use the planner to see how many credits at what average it takes to climb back over 2.0.

Tips and limitations

  • Credits matter as much as grades. A lab course worth 4 credits moves the GPA more than a 1-credit seminar with the same grade.
  • Repeated courses are handled differently by each school: some replace the old grade, others average both. Enter them the way your registrar counts them.
  • An F usually earns no honors or AP bonus; the calculator follows that rule.
  • Percentages are converted with typical cut-offs (93 and up A, 90 to 92 A-, and so on). If your school uses a 10-point A, enter letters instead.
  • For a single course grade rather than a GPA, use the Final Grade Calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate my GPA?

Convert each grade to grade points, multiply by the course credits, add those quality points up and divide by the total credits. A (4.0) in a 3-credit course, B+ (3.3) in a 4-credit course and C (2.0) in a 3-credit course give 31.2 / 10 = 3.12.

What is an A- on a 4.0 scale?

On the most common US scale an A- is 3.7, a B+ is 3.3 and a B- is 2.7. An A+ is usually capped at 4.0, though some schools award 4.3.

What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?

Unweighted GPA uses the plain 4.0 scale for every course. Weighted GPA adds a bonus for harder classes, often +0.5 for honors and +1.0 for AP or IB, so it can go above 4.0.

How do I calculate my cumulative GPA?

Multiply your previous GPA by the credits it covers to get past quality points, add this term's quality points, and divide by all credits combined. A 3.2 over 30 credits plus a 3.5 term over 6 credits is 117 / 36 = 3.25.

What GPA do I need to raise my cumulative GPA to a target?

Required GPA = (target x total credits after the next courses - current GPA x current credits) / credits still to take. Going from 3.0 over 60 credits to 3.3 with 30 credits left needs a 3.9.

Do pass/fail classes count toward GPA?

Usually not. A pass earns credit toward graduation but no grade points, so it is left out of the GPA. Enter P, NP or W and the calculator lists the course without averaging it.

Is a 3.5 GPA good?

A 3.5 on the 4.0 scale is a B+ to A- average, which many scholarships and honors programmes use as a threshold. Whether it is competitive depends on the school and the course load behind it.

Is there an in-depth guide to the GPA Calculator?

Yes. “GPA and Final Grades: The Weighted Averages Behind Your Transcript” covers the background, how it works, common pitfalls and worked examples. Read the full guide.

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