What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?

An unweighted GPA caps every course at 4.0 regardless of difficulty. A weighted GPA adds a bonus for harder courses — commonly +0.5 for honors and +1.0 for AP or IB — so an A in an AP class is worth 5.0. Weighted GPAs can exceed 4.0; unweighted ones cannot. Flip the Unweighted/Weighted toggle in the tool to see both.

How do credit hours affect my GPA?

Credit hours are the weights in the average. They don't change a course's grade points but scale how much it pulls on the result. An A in a 4-credit course adds 16 quality points; the same A in a 1-credit course adds only 4. A heavy course therefore moves your GPA roughly four times as much as that light one.

How do I calculate my cumulative GPA?

Multiply your prior GPA by the credits it covers, add the quality points from the new term, then divide by the new total credits. A 3.2 over 30 credits plus a 3.7 term over 15 credits gives (3.2×30 + 3.7×15) ÷ 45 = 3.37. The Cumulative tab in the worked examples shows the full arithmetic.

What GPA is an A average?

On the standard unweighted 4.0 scale a straight-A average is a 4.0, with an A− counting as 3.7. A mix of A and A− grades lands between 3.7 and 4.0. Most schools cap the unweighted scale at 4.0 and give no extra credit for an A+, though some award 4.3 — a toggle for that sits inside the tool.

Yes. A 3.5 is a high-B-plus to A-minus average and typically clears the cum laude and Dean's list lines at most US schools. A 3.7 reaches the magna cum laude range and a 3.9 the summa cum laude range, though every school sets its own thresholds.

How do I convert a percentage to a GPA?

Map the percentage to its letter band first, then read off the grade points. 90–92% is an A− (3.7), 93–96% an A (4.0), 80–82% a B− (2.7). The conversion chart on this page lists every letter, its GPA value, and its percentage band side by side.

Do pass/fail courses count toward GPA?

Usually no. A pass/fail (or credit/no-credit) course awards the credit hours but carries no grade points, so it neither raises nor lowers your GPA. Leave those courses out of the calculator, since including them with a letter grade would distort the weighting.

Education

GPA Calculator

Add each course with its letter grade and credit hours to get your weighted or unweighted GPA on the 4.0 scale — with honors and AP bonuses, the quality points behind the number, and a letter-to-GPA chart.

Your courses

GradeCredits

GPA · 4.0 scale

3.48≈ B+

Solid standing (B average)

0.01.02.03.04.0

Quality points

A4 × 3 = 12

B+3.3 × 4 = 13.2

A−3.7 × 3 = 11.1

B3 × 3 = 9

Total credits

Quality points

45.3

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The basics

What a GPA actually is

A grade point average is not a plain average of your grades — it is a weighted one. Each letter grade becomes a number on the 4.0 scale, that number is multiplied by the course's credit hours to give its quality points, and the GPA is the total quality points divided by the total credits. Heavier courses pull harder; that weighting is the whole point.

quality points = points × credits

From a grade to quality points

Each grade is first turned into points, then scaled by how much the course is worth. The same letter is worth more in a course that carries more credit.

A (4.0) in a 3-credit class → 12

GPA = Σ quality points ÷ Σ credits

From quality points to a GPA

Add the quality points from every course and divide by the total credit hours. The result is the credit-weighted average that lands on the 0 to 4 scale.

24 ÷ 7 = 3.43

Method

How to calculate GPA by hand

Four steps turn a list of courses into a single number.

1
Convert each grade to points
Look up each letter grade on the 4.0 scale: A is 4.0, B is 3.0, C is 2.0, and so on down to F at 0.
B+ → 3.3
2
Multiply by credit hours
For each course, multiply its grade points by its credit hours to get that course's quality points.
3.3 × 4 = 13.2
3
Add up both columns
Total the quality points across every course, and separately total the credit hours.
Σ quality points · Σ credits
4
Divide quality points by credits
Divide the total quality points by the total credit hours. That quotient is your GPA.
GPA = Σ qp ÷ Σ credits

Worked examples

See it across the three GPA types

The same courses, computed three ways — plain unweighted, weighted with honors and AP bonuses, and blended into a running cumulative total. Every figure recomputes from the data, nothing is hardcoded.

Plain 4.0 scale — every course counts the same per credit hour.

Given A/3cr, B/4cr, A−/3cr

Quality points: 4×3 + 3×4 + 3.7×3 = 12 + 12 + 11.1

Sum: 35.1 quality points over 10 credits

GPA = 35.1 ÷ 10 = 3.51

Quick chart

Letter ↔ GPA ↔ percentage

The fastest answer to “what GPA is a B+” or “is 90% an A−”. Every letter, its grade-point value, and the percentage band that earns it — side by side.

LetterGPAPercentage

A+4.097–100%

A4.093–96%

A−3.790–92%

B+3.387–89%

B3.083–86%

B−2.780–82%

C+2.377–79%

C2.073–76%

C−1.770–72%

D+1.367–69%

D1.063–66%

D−0.760–62%

F0.0below 60%

Weighted GPA

How honors and AP add points

A weighted GPA rewards harder courses by adding a bonus to the base grade points before they are scaled by credits. The bonuses below are the most common US convention; some schools use a 5.0 or 6.0 ceiling or different increments.

Regular

no bonus

A here = 4.0

Honors

+0.5 points

A here = 4.5

AP / IB

+1.0 points

A here = 5.0

Reference

Latin honors and the GPA cuts

Where your GPA places you for graduation honors. Schools set their own thresholds — some by class rank rather than a fixed number — but these are the common cuts.

Summa cum laudecumulative≥ 3.9

Magna cum laudecumulative≥ 3.7

Cum laudecumulative≥ 3.5

Dean's list standingper term≥ 3.6

Worth knowing

Things that trip people up

weighted can exceed 4.0

A weighted GPA can break 4.0

The unweighted scale stops at 4.0, but the bonus for honors and AP courses pushes a weighted GPA above it. Always say which one you mean when you quote a number.

A in an AP class → 5.0

retakes follow a policy

Retakes depend on the policy

Some schools replace the old grade when you retake a course; others average both attempts into the GPA. The credits and quality points you feed in should match whichever rule your school uses.

replace vs. average the attempts

pass/fail = credits, no points

Pass/fail courses sit out

A pass/fail course earns its credit hours but no grade points, so it doesn't move the average either way. Leave those courses out of the calculation entirely.

3 credits, 0 quality points

round at the very end

Round only the final answer

Rounding each course's points or the running total introduces drift. Keep full precision through the sum and divide, then round the GPA to two decimals at the end.

3.428 → 3.43, not earlier

a heavy course dominates

Credits decide the pull

Because credits are the weights, a low grade in a heavy course costs far more than the same grade in a light one. Protect your GPA where the credits are concentrated.

4-credit C drags more than a 1-credit C

scales are not universal

The 4.0 scale is a convention

The A = 4.0 mapping is standard in the US but not a law. International and some US schools use different ceilings, so confirm the scale before comparing GPAs across institutions.

some use 4.3, 5.0, or 10-point scales

FAQ

Common questions

Turn each letter grade into grade points on the 4.0 scale, multiply by the course's credit hours to get its quality points, add the quality points across every course, then divide by the total credit hours. An A (4.0) in a 3-credit course and a B (3.0) in a 4-credit course give (4×3 + 3×4) ÷ (3+4) = 24 ÷ 7 = 3.43.

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