Calculate your semester, cumulative, weighted, or unweighted GPA in seconds. Add your courses, pick your grades, and get instant results on a 4.0 or 5.0 scale.
A GPA calculator computes your Grade Point Average by converting letter grades to grade points, weighting each by its credit hours, and averaging them. The formula is total quality points ÷ total credit hours. On the standard unweighted 4.0 scale, an A equals 4.0 and a B equals 3.0. Weighted scales add bonus points for AP, IB, and Honors courses, allowing a GPA above 4.0. This tool handles both, plus cumulative GPA across multiple terms.
Add each course below with its grade and credit hours. Results update instantly.
Get your GPA in under two minutes. Here's how:
GPA stands for Grade Point Average — a single number that summarizes your academic performance across all your courses. Instead of listing every grade separately, schools convert letter grades to a numeric scale (usually 0 to 4.0), weight each grade by how many credit hours the course was worth, and average them into one figure.
The GPA formula is straightforward once you break it into steps:
The key insight most students miss: GPA is weighted by credit hours, not a simple average of your grades. A B in a 4-credit chemistry class affects your GPA twice as much as a B in a 2-credit seminar.
Most US schools use this standard conversion on the 4.0 scale. Some schools don't use plus/minus distinctions, in which case every A is 4.0, every B is 3.0, and so on.
| Letter Grade | Percentage | 4.0 Scale (Unweighted) | Honors (+0.5) | AP/IB (+1.0) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97-100% | 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| A | 93-96% | 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| A- | 90-92% | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
| B+ | 87-89% | 3.3 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| B | 83-86% | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| B- | 80-82% | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.7 |
| C+ | 77-79% | 2.3 | 2.8 | 3.3 |
| C | 73-76% | 2.0 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
| C- | 70-72% | 1.7 | 2.2 | 2.7 |
| D+ | 67-69% | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| D | 63-66% | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| F | Below 60% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Schools vary. Some don't award 4.0 for A+ (they cap at 4.0 for A), some use slightly different percentage cutoffs, and weighted bonuses differ by district. Always check your school's official grading policy for the exact scale.
This is the most misunderstood part of GPA, and getting it wrong can mislead you about your college chances.
Uses the standard 4.0 scale where the maximum is 4.0 no matter how hard your classes are. An A in basket-weaving and an A in AP Calculus both count as 4.0. This is the "pure" measure of grades.
Adds bonus points for harder courses to reward rigor. Typically: Honors classes get +0.5 and AP/IB classes get +1.0. This means an A in an AP class is worth 5.0, pushing your GPA above the standard 4.0 ceiling.
The same report card produces a 3.75 unweighted or a 4.375 weighted GPA. This is why you'll see students with "4.5 GPAs" — they're using the weighted scale. When applying to colleges, know which one each school wants; many recalculate using their own formula anyway.
Let's calculate the GPA for a student taking these four classes:
Step 1: Sum the quality points
Step 2: Sum the credit hours
Step 3: Divide
Semester GPA: 3.53 (a strong B+ / A- average)
Your cumulative GPA combines all terms into one number. The mistake students make is averaging their semester GPAs directly — that's wrong unless every semester had identical credits. The correct method weights by credits.
You had a 3.50 GPA across 30 credits. This semester you earned a 3.60 GPA across 15 credits.
New cumulative GPA: 3.53 — notice it's closer to 3.50 because those 30 prior credits carry more weight than the 15 new ones.
This is why it gets harder to move your GPA as you accumulate credits. A freshman can swing their GPA dramatically; a senior with 100+ credits can barely budge it in a single semester. Switch to Cumulative mode in the calculator above to do this math automatically.
"Good" depends entirely on your goals, but here are general benchmarks on the unweighted 4.0 scale:
| GPA Range | Letter Avg | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| 3.9 - 4.0 | A / A+ | Exceptional — competitive for Ivy League and top schools |
| 3.7 - 3.89 | A- | Excellent — strong for selective universities |
| 3.3 - 3.69 | B+ / A- | Very good — solid for most four-year colleges |
| 3.0 - 3.29 | B | Good — meets most admission and scholarship minimums |
| 2.0 - 2.99 | C / B- | Average — qualifies for many state and community colleges |
| Below 2.0 | D / F | At risk — may face academic probation |
The average high school GPA in the US is around 3.0, and the average for incoming college freshmen at four-year institutions is roughly 3.4-3.5. A 3.5+ puts you above average. But context matters: a 3.5 with a demanding AP course load impresses admissions officers more than a 4.0 with all easy classes.
If you studied abroad or are applying internationally, GPA systems differ widely. Here's a rough comparison — always use official conversion services for applications, as exact equivalencies vary:
| Country / System | Their Scale | ≈ US 4.0 GPA |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 4.0 scale | 4.0 = A |
| United Kingdom | First/2:1/2:2 | First Class ≈ 3.7-4.0 |
| India | 10-point CGPA / % | CGPA 9-10 or 75%+ ≈ 4.0 |
| Germany | 1.0-5.0 (1 best) | 1.0-1.5 ≈ 4.0 |
| Canada | 4.0 or 4.3 scale | Similar to US |
| Australia | 7-point GPA | 7.0 ≈ 4.0 |
Germany and several European countries use an inverted scale where 1.0 is the best grade and higher numbers are worse — the opposite of the US system. Never assume a "3.0" means the same thing across countries. For official applications, use a credential evaluation service like WES.
GPA is calculated by multiplying each course's grade points by its credit hours, adding up all these quality points, and dividing by the total number of credit hours. For example, an A (4.0) in a 3-credit class earns 12 quality points. Sum the quality points across all classes and divide by total credits to get your GPA.
Unweighted GPA uses a standard 4.0 scale where an A is always 4.0 regardless of course difficulty. Weighted GPA adds extra points for harder classes — typically AP and IB courses are scored on a 5.0 scale and Honors on a 4.5 scale. A weighted GPA can exceed 4.0, rewarding students who take more rigorous coursework.
On a 4.0 scale, a GPA of 3.5 or higher is generally considered good and competitive for most colleges. A 3.0 (B average) is solid and meets most admission requirements. For highly selective universities, an unweighted GPA of 3.8-4.0 is typical. What counts as "good" depends heavily on the schools and programs you're targeting.
To calculate cumulative GPA, multiply your prior GPA by your total prior credits to get prior quality points, then add the quality points from your current term. Divide this total by your combined credit hours (prior plus current). The calculator's Cumulative mode does this automatically when you enter your previous GPA and credits.
Yes, on a weighted scale. Weighted GPAs reward advanced coursework — AP and IB classes are often graded on a 5.0 scale, so straight A's in all AP courses could produce a 5.0 weighted GPA. On an unweighted 4.0 scale, however, 4.0 is the maximum possible.
It depends on your school's grade replacement policy. Some schools replace the old grade entirely (only the new grade counts), some average the two attempts, and some keep both grades on the transcript but only count the higher one toward GPA. Check your institution's specific policy — grade forgiveness rules vary significantly.
Most college courses are worth 3 credit hours, though lab sciences and some majors have 4-credit courses. A full-time semester is typically 12-15 credits (4-5 courses). High school courses are often counted as 1 credit per year-long class. Enter the actual credit value for each course for an accurate GPA.
No. All calculations happen entirely in your browser. Your course names, grades, and credits stay on your device — nothing is sent to our servers, and no data is stored after you close the page.
This calculator provides estimates based on standard US grading scales. Grading policies, weighting systems, and GPA requirements vary by institution. Always confirm details with your school's registrar or academic advisor for official calculations.