GPA Calculator
GPA Calculator
Work out your grade point average on the 4.0 scale from your courses, grades and credits, weighted for honors and AP classes as well as unweighted, then add your GPA so far to get the new cumulative figure. The planner shows the average you need to reach a target GPA, and the converter turns a percentage into a letter grade and grade points.
Percent to letter grade and GPA
What each course contributes
Where your cumulative GPA can go
Grades are converted on the common US 4.0 scale: A and A plus 4.0, A minus 3.7, B plus 3.3, B 3.0, B minus 2.7, C plus 2.3, C 2.0, C minus 1.7, D plus 1.3, D 1.0 and F 0. The weighted figure adds 0.5 for honors and 1.0 for AP or IB courses, capped at 5.0, with no bonus on an F. Schools differ on all of this, including whether an A plus counts as 4.3 and how much weighting they add, and many colleges recalculate GPAs their own way, so check your school’s scale for the official number. The CSV, image and printed report contain the values you entered, nothing preloaded.
How to use this tool
List your courses for the term: a name if you like, the letter grade, the credits or units, and whether it was a regular, honors or AP or IB course. The unweighted and weighted GPA appear at the top as you go. Add a course with the button below the list; twelve is the limit. If you know your GPA so far and how many credits it covers, add those and the page gives the new cumulative figure.
The planner answers the question most people actually have: what do I need from here? Give a target GPA and the credits you still have to take, and the page works out the average you need, or tells you plainly that it cannot be done in that many credits. The green panel converts a percentage into a letter grade and points, or a GPA back into a letter.
What the calculation is doing
A GPA is a weighted average. Each letter grade becomes grade points on the 4.0 scale, those points are multiplied by the course credits to give quality points, and the total quality points are divided by the total credits. A 4 credit course therefore counts a third more than a 3 credit one, which is why a single grade in a heavy course can move the result more than you expect.
The weighted GPA adds a bonus to the grade points of harder courses before the average is taken: 0.5 for honors and 1.0 for AP or IB is the common convention, with no bonus on an F and a cap at 5.0. Cumulative GPA works the same way across terms: your old GPA times its credits gives the quality points already banked, and the new term's points are added to them.
The 4.0 grade scale
| Letter | Percent | Points | Honors | AP or IB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97 to 100 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| A | 93 to 96 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| A- | 90 to 92 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
| B+ | 87 to 89 | 3.3 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| B | 83 to 86 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| B- | 80 to 82 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.7 |
| C+ | 77 to 79 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 3.3 |
| C | 73 to 76 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
| C- | 70 to 72 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 2.7 |
| D+ | 67 to 69 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 2.3 |
| D | 65 to 66 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 |
| F | below 65 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
The common US scale. Some schools count an A plus as 4.3, use different percent bands, or weight honors and AP courses differently.
Weighted, unweighted and cumulative GPA
Unweighted is the plain average on the 4.0 scale, the same for every course. It is the number most colleges compare across applicants, often recalculated from core academic courses only.
Weighted rewards harder courses, so a B in an AP class counts as 4.0 rather than 3.0. It shows the difficulty of a schedule, which is why schools report it, but the size of the bonus varies from school to school.
Cumulative is the average over everything so far. It is the one on a transcript and the one that matters for scholarships, honours and probation rules, and it is the one that becomes harder to move each term.
How much can a GPA move?
The maths is unforgiving in a way that is worth understanding early. To reach a target you need enough quality points in total: target times all the credits you will have. Subtract what you have already banked, divide by the credits left, and that is the average you need. When most of your credits are behind you, even a perfect term moves the average only a little.
| Current GPA, 60 credits | Target | Average needed over 30 credits |
|---|---|---|
| 2.5 | 2.7 | 3.10 |
| 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.40 |
| 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.40 |
| 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.70 |
| 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.60 |
| 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.90 |
| 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.80 |
| 3.2 | 3.5 | not possible |
| 3.5 | 3.7 | not possible |
| 3.5 | 3.8 | not possible |
Two years in, a year of study can move a GPA by about a third of a point at most. Each figure opens the planner.
A worked check you can repeat on paper
Take the page's starting courses. English, an A, is 4.0 times 3 credits, 12 quality points. Math, a B plus in an honors class, is 3.3 times 4, 13.2. Chemistry, an A minus, is 3.7 times 4, 14.8. History, a B, is 3.0 times 3, 9. Spanish, an A, is 12. That is 61 quality points over 17 credits, and 61 divided by 17 is 3.59.
For the weighted figure, the honors Math grade becomes 3.8, adding 2 quality points, so 63 over 17 is 3.71. Now suppose this was the second year, with a 3.40 GPA over 45 credits before it. That is 153 quality points banked; add 61 and divide by 62 credits for a cumulative 3.45.
Mistakes that catch people out
Averaging the letter grades without the credits. A 1 credit lab and a 4 credit lecture do not count equally. The credits are the weights.
Averaging two GPAs directly. A 3.8 over 15 credits and a 3.0 over 45 is not a 3.4. Multiply each by its credits first: the true figure is 3.2.
Assuming an A plus counts as 4.3. On most US scales it is 4.0. Check your school before counting on it.
Comparing a weighted GPA with an unweighted one. A 4.2 weighted and a 3.8 unweighted can describe the same transcript.
Leaving the planner too late. The same term of good grades is worth far more in the first year than the last.
Popular calculations
Each opens the calculator with its own address, and every value can be changed once it is open.
Percent to letter grade and GPA
What a GPA means
Raising a GPA
How this was checked
The engine was tested in Node against hand calculations: the five starting courses give exactly 61 quality points over 17 credits, 3.5882 unweighted and 3.7059 weighted; a 3.2 over 60 credits needs exactly 4.10 over the next 30 to reach 3.5, which the page correctly reports as out of reach; and every percent from 0 to 100 lands in exactly one letter band. The weighting was checked at its edges, including no bonus on an F and the 5.0 cap.
Every address in the lists above was then opened and checked for a distinct title, the right answer, charts that render, and clean CSV, image and print output containing only that calculation, at desktop, tablet and phone widths.
Common questions
How do I calculate my GPA?
Turn each grade into points on the 4.0 scale, multiply by the course credits, add those quality points up, and divide by the total credits. Five courses worth 17 credits with 61 quality points give 61 divided by 17, a 3.59.
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 courses, commonly 0.5 for honors and 1.0 for AP or IB, so it can go above 4.0. Colleges see both, and many recalculate your GPA on their own scale.
What is 85 percent as a GPA?
On the common US scale 85 percent is a B, worth 3.0 grade points. The B band runs from 83 to 86 percent, with B plus from 87 to 89 and B minus from 80 to 82.
Is a 3.5 GPA good?
A 3.5 sits between a B plus and an A minus, roughly 89 to 90 percent. It is above the 3.0 that many scholarships and programs use as a cut off, and within the range many selective colleges admit, though the most selective often see averages closer to 3.9 unweighted.
How can I raise my GPA quickly?
A GPA moves fastest when few credits are behind you. From a 3.0 after 15 credits, one term of straight As lifts it to 3.5; from a 3.0 after 90 credits, the same term only reaches about 3.14. Heavier courses move it more, because each counts in proportion to its credits.
Does an A plus count as more than 4.0?
On most US scales, no: an A plus is 4.0, the same as an A. Some schools and colleges use 4.3 for an A plus, which is why the same transcript can give slightly different GPAs.
Related Calculators and Reference
- Weighted Average Calculator: the same weighted mean for any other set of numbers.
- Percentage Calculator: for turning marks into percentages before you convert them.
- Fraction Calculator: for scores given as a mark out of a total.
- Date Difference Calculator: the weeks left until a deadline or the end of term.
- Final Grade Calculator: the score you need on a final exam to reach a target course grade.
- Test Score Calculator: percent and letter grade for a test score, how many questions you can miss, and curves.
- College Board BigFuture: how GPAs are calculated and used in admissions.