This GPA calculator turns your letter grades and credit hours into a GPA on the US 4.0 scale. It gives both an unweighted result and a weighted one for honors and AP/IB courses, and a second mode works backwards to show the grade you need for a target GPA.
How to use the GPA calculator
- Pick Calculate GPA. For each course choose the letter grade, enter the credits and select the level: Regular, Honors or AP/IB.
- Use + Add Course for more courses and Remove to delete one. The result updates as you type.
- Read your GPA, the total credits and the total grade points.
- To plan ahead, switch to Target Grade. Enter your current GPA and credits, the GPA you want, the credits of the courses still to come, and their level.
How GPA is calculated
Each letter grade has a point value on the common US 4.0 scale:
| Grade | Points | Grade | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ / A | 4.0 | C+ | 2.3 |
| A- | 3.7 | C | 2.0 |
| B+ | 3.3 | C- | 1.7 |
| B | 3.0 | D+ | 1.3 |
| B- | 2.7 | D | 1.0 |
| D- | 0.7 | ||
| F | 0.0 |
Multiply the points of each course by its credits, add the results, and divide by the total credits:
GPA = Σ (grade points × credits) ÷ Σ credits
For weighted GPA, honors courses add 0.5 and AP/IB courses add 1.0 to the points of a passing grade. Schools differ here: some add less, some do not weight at all, and some use a 4.3 or a 100-point scale. If your school’s scale differs, use your school’s published scale as the reference. The percentage cut-offs used in Target Grade mode follow a typical US scale (93–96 is an A, 90–92 an A-, 86–89 a B+ and so on), which also varies by school.
Example
Two regular courses: an A in a 3-credit course and a B in a 4-credit course.
- A: 4.0 × 3 = 12 points
- B: 3.0 × 4 = 12 points
- GPA = (12 + 12) ÷ 7 = 3.43
Now make the first course AP: an A is worth 5.0, so 5.0 × 3 = 15 points and the GPA becomes (15 + 12) ÷ 7 = 3.86. With one AP A and one regular B of 3 credits each, the weighted GPA is (15 + 9) ÷ 6 = 4.00, while the unweighted GPA would be 3.50.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring credits. A 1-credit elective and a 5-credit course do not count equally, so enter credits for every course.
- Mixing up weighted and unweighted. Colleges often recalculate your GPA on their own scale. Check which version an application asks for.
- Forgetting earlier terms. For a cumulative GPA, put every term’s courses in one list, or use Target Grade mode with your current GPA and credits.
- Expecting the impossible. If the needed average is above the maximum for the course level (4.0 regular, 4.5 honors, 5.0 AP/IB), the calculator says the target cannot be reached with those courses.