GPA Calculator – Weighted, Unweighted & Cumulative GPA

Your GPA is an average of your grades, where each grade is turned into points and each course counts according to its credits. Add your courses below and this GPA calculator gives your unweighted and weighted GPA side by side. Below the results you can update your cumulative GPA or work out the grades you need to hit a goal. Your courses stay saved in your browser for next time.

The Three Numbers You’ll See

• Unweighted GPA treats every course the same, on a 0–4.0 scale. An A is 4.0 whether it’s in regular English or AP Chemistry.
• Weighted GPA adds bonus points for harder courses, usually +0.5 for Honors and +1.0 for AP, IB or dual enrollment. That’s how a weighted GPA can go above 4.0.
• Cumulative GPA covers every course you’ve taken so far, not just this term. It’s the number that usually appears on a transcript.

Grade Point Chart

This is the most common US scale, and the one the calculator uses by default. Percent cut-offs in particular vary between schools, so if your report card lists a different scale, enter letter grades instead of percentages.

One Term, Worked Out

Here’s a college term with four courses:

Multiply each grade’s points by the course’s credits to get its quality points. Add them up and divide by total credits: 47.1 ÷ 14 = 3.36.

If you simply averaged the four grades, you’d get 3.43. The real GPA is lower because the two B grades are in 4-credit courses, so they carry more weight than the two A grades in 3-credit courses. In high school, where most classes count as 1 credit, the two numbers are usually the same.

Weighted vs Unweighted: Which One Counts?

Take a high school term with English (A−), Honors Algebra II (B+), Biology (A) and AP US History (B), each worth 1 credit.

• Unweighted: 3.7 + 3.3 + 4.0 + 3.0 = 14.0 ÷ 4 = 3.50
• Weighted: 3.7 + 3.8 + 4.0 + 4.0 = 15.5 ÷ 4 = 3.88

The B in AP US History is worth the same as an A in a regular class once weighting is added. That’s the reason weighting exists: so taking a harder class doesn’t drag your GPA down.

When an application asks for your GPA, give the one your school puts on your transcript. Many colleges then recalculate GPA their own way, often unweighted and using only core academic subjects, and look at how demanding your courses were as a separate factor.

Cumulative GPA

To combine a new term with your existing GPA, you need two things: your current GPA and the credits behind it.

Say you have a 3.20 over 30 credits and just earned a 4.0 term worth 15 credits.

1. Existing quality points: 3.20 × 30 = 96
2. New quality points: 4.0 × 15 = 60
3. New cumulative GPA: (96 + 60) ÷ 45 = 3.47

Averaging the two GPAs (3.20 and 4.0) would give 3.60, which is wrong. The 30 earlier credits outweigh the 15 new ones.

How Much Can One Term Move Your GPA?

Each term counts for a smaller share of your total as credits pile up. Here’s what a perfect 4.0 term of 15 credits does to a 3.00 GPA at different stages:

The same excellent term lifts a first-year GPA by a third of a point but a senior’s by about a tenth. If you want to raise your GPA, the earlier terms are where it’s cheapest to do.

Planning for a Target GPA

The planner works backwards from where you want to be:

GPA needed next term = (target × total credits after next term − quality points you have now) ÷ next term’s credits

With a 3.10 over 60 credits and a goal of 3.25 after another 15 credits: (3.25 × 75 − 186) ÷ 15 = 3.85. That’s roughly an A− average next term.

Sometimes the answer comes out above 4.0, which means the goal can’t be reached that quickly. With a 2.50 over 60 credits, reaching 3.00 in one 15-credit term would need a 5.0. The planner then tells you how many credits of straight A’s it would take instead, in this case 30.

School Rules That Change Your Number

Open Grading rules in the calculator to match your school.

• A+: most schools count it as 4.0, the same as an A. Some give 4.3.
• Bonus size: +0.5 for Honors and +1.0 for AP/IB is the most common setup, but some schools use other values or give no bonus at all.
• D and F grades usually get no bonus, even in an AP course.
• Pass/fail and withdrawn courses (P and W) don’t count towards GPA. Choose them in the grade list and the calculator leaves them out.
• Repeated courses are handled differently from school to school. Some replace the old grade, others average both. Enter only the grade your school counts.

Your school’s student handbook or registrar has the official rules.

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