GPA Calculator

GPA Calculator: Work Out Your High School or College GPA

Use this GPA calculator to figure out your grade point average, either for high school or college. Choose your level on the top, fill in your classes and letter grades, and watch your GPA appear. In high school mode, you can choose honors and AP classes to display your weighted number next to your unweighted number. You add credit hours in college mode, so each class counts by its genuine size.

The tool is free for about a minute. Underneath it, this page follows the same process a student actually takes: high school GPA, then college GPA, then the recalculated systems that colleges like UC and UF utilize when they read your application. You can trust the math instead of trusting a black box, because every example on this page is worked out step by step.

How to Calculate GPA (The Basic Method)

The first part of every GPA calculator is always the same. You take the average of the letter grades and divide them by the amount of grades.

In this case, a 4.0 scale would be:

Once you have the points, the basic formula is short:

GPA = total grade points ÷ number of courses

Say Maya finished four classes this term:

Four points plus three points plus four points plus two points equals thirteen points. Take 13.0 and divide it by 4 to get 3.25.

That’s Maya’s grade point average. Under the hood, nothing more difficult is going on.

In the end, two things change this basic method. It is possible to get extra points in high school by taking honors or AP classes. This is called a “weighted GPA.” The number of credit hours for each class in college is used instead of one equal slot. These are talked about one at a time in the next two parts. The school-specific systems at the end are just these two ideas put together in a different way.

In some schools, an A- is 3.7 and a B+ is 3.3, which are added together to make a grade. Before you do the math by hand, check your school’s scale. The rest of the math is the same either way.

GPA Calculator for High School: Weighted vs Unweighted

Slow down here because this is where most students get stuck.

With an unweighted GPA, each class is scored the same. Both an A in AP Chemistry and an A in Ceramics are worth 4.0. You can’t go above 4.0 on the scale.

With weighted GPA, classes that are harder earn you more points. Most of the time, +0.5 is added for honors classes and +1.0 is added for AP or IB classes. Weighed GPAs can go above 4.0 because bonus points are added on top of a 4.0.

This is the same student, five classes, and scores that go both ways.

Table: unweighted vs weighted, side by side

Unweighted: 19.0 ÷ 5 = 3.80 Weighted: 20.5 ÷ 5 = 4.10

The same report card. Not the same number. There is no mistake in that 0.30-point gap, and neither number is fake.

Which one is important? Each for its own reason:

• It shows how close you were to getting all A’s. Colleges use it to see how well you do without any course-difficulty boost.
• Weighed GPA shows that you did well even tho you had harder classes. It’s the number that your school uses to rank you in the class and puts on your transcript.

One warning that you should pay attention to. Scales for weight are not all the same. Some school districts add +1.0 for honors and +2.0 for AP, which would bring the student’s grade above 4.40. Some schools don’t add anything. In fact, that’s why big universities throw away your transcript number and make their own, which is what the sections below about UC and UF talk about.

Set this high school GPA calculator to high school mode, then mark each honors and AP class. Finally, flip the weighted option to see both rates at the same time. From ninth grade on, keep track of both because jobs will ask for both. It works with our class rank tool if your school gives grades.

GPA Calculator for College: Why Credit Hours Matter

One rule changes in college. No longer are classes similar.

A 4-credit talk is more than a 1-credit lab. It meets more, asks more, and counts more. College GPA, on the other hand, averages quality points instead of grades, and each class adds based on how big it is.

Grade points times credit hours equals quality points.

College GPA = total grade points divided by total credit hours

Here is a semester with three classes of very different sizes:

29.0 x 8 = 3.625

Take a look at what the credit hours did. The average of the three scores would be (4.0 + 3.0 + 4.0) ÷ 3 = 3.667 if you didn’t take them into account. The correct answer is less than 3.625 because the B was in a 3-credit class and the A was in a 1-credit lab. It wasn’t possible to raise the average because the lab was too small.

It works better when you turn it around. The same three letter grades give you 30 ÷ 8 = 3.75 when you move the B to the 1-credit lab and the A to the 3-credit psychology class.

The useful thing to remember is that your GPA is based on your big classes. A rough semester in a one-credit class doesn’t change the grade much. It moves a lot when you have a rough term in a 4-credit major course. When you plan your term, don’t just look at how many classes you have, but also where your credit hours fall. For schools that use quarter units instead of semester units, our credit hour calculator can help.

School-Specific GPA Systems: UC and UF Explained

This is something that many applicants find strange. A lot of colleges don’t look at the GPA that’s written on your paper; they make their own.

They are not being tough. Because each school district gives different weights to classes, record GPAs can’t be compared. By recalculating, all applicants are now on the same level.

Good news: these aren’t brand-new ways to do math. There are two changes to the weighted GPA that you already know. What classes count and how much of a bonus does each one get?

UC GPA Calculator

A certain window and cap are used at the University of California.

UC turns all letter grades from A to G courses taken between the summer after 9th grade and the summer after 11th grade into grade points, where A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, and D = 1. Pluses and minuses are not counted.It is possible to get extra grade points for approved honors-level classes for up to eight semesters, but no more than four of those semesters can be from 10th grade.</cite>

• Students are surprised by three things in that sentence, so read it again:
• Grades from ninth and twelfth grades don’t count toward the UC GPA.
• Only classes approved by A–G count. Electives that aren’t on that list are dropped.

You can only get the honors bonus for eight quarters. It doesn’t add twelve points to take twelve AP classes.

Right here is a quick example that works. In 10th and 11th grade, the student has 10 semester grades in A–G classes. They have seven As and three Bs. In four of those semesters, you had to get at least a C in honors or AP classes.

• Base points: (7 x 4) + (3 x 3) = 28 + 9 = 37
• Honors points: 4 (up to 8 semesters).
• The sum of 41 points and 10 grades is 4.10.

For the same student, 37 ÷ 10 = 3.70 is their grade without the award points. Applicants to UC who live in California must get at least a 3.0 in A–G classes, while applicants who don’t live in California must get at least a 3.4. UC doesn’t round the numbers up or down. </cite> Before you use any calculator, including this one, make sure you know the latest rules by going to UC’s official GPA calculator requirements page.

UF GPA Calculator

It’s also done again by the University of Florida, but they put the line in a different spot.

UF recalculates high school grade point averages by only looking at academic courses. AP, IB, and AICE classes at the college level are given an extra 1.0 point, so an A is equal to a 5.0. Classes like Honors, Pre-IB, and Pre-AICE have an extra 0.5 points added to their grade, so an A is worth 4.5. </cite> <cite index=”46-1″> ⁣ The subjects that UF looks at are English, math, natural sciences, social sciences, and a foreign language. Take a look at the bonus numbers. The +0.5 and +1.0 are the same ones from the part on weighted GPA earlier on this page. Not anything new. Which classes make the cut?

Take our five-course student from earlier and add a sixth class, an A in PE:

The new UF GPA is 4.10, which is 20.5 minus 5.

The A in PE went away. Their record would show about 4.33 if their school gives +2.0 for AP and +1.0 for honors and counts PE. It would say 4.10 in the UF. Both are fine, and the school will pick its own. Check the official decision process page at UF to see what the current policy is.

The lesson is the same in both. You should ask each college you’re applying to what classes they count and how they weight them. Then you can do your math. Our calculators for getting into college work for more schools.

Semester GPA vs Cumulative GPA

Your GPA for the semester only shows one term. The grades you’ve earned so far are added up to get your overall GPA.

The average of your quarter GPAs is not the same as your cumulative GPA. It has the same weight as any other term: credit hours.

Someone takes 15 credits and gets a 3.40, then 12 credits and gets a 3.80:

• Points for Term 1: 15 x 3.40 = 51.0
• 12 times 3.80 is 45.6 quality points for Term 2.
• Total credits earned: 96.6 x 27 = 3.58

3.60 is the simple mean of 3.40 and 3.80. The real GPA is 3.58 because the weaker term counted for more points. It’s only a small difference, but it’s the kind of thing that matters when you’re getting close to the scholarship limit.

FAQs

Q1. What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?

Every class gets the same weight in the unweighted GPA, which stops at 4.0. When you add up the points for harder classes, like +0.5 for honors and +1.0 for AP or IB, your weighted GPA can go above 4.0. The student in the above case got a 3.80 unweighted grade and a 4.10 weighted grade on the same report card.

Q2. How do I calculate my college GPA with different credit hours?

To get quality points, multiply the grade points for each class by the number of credit hours it has. Then, add up all the quality points and divide the result by the overall number of credit hours. A grade of 4 credits earns 16 points, a grade of 3 credits earns 9 points, and a grade of 1 credit earns 4 points. The grade point average (GPA) is 3.625, which is 29 points for 8 credit hours.

Q3. Can my GPA be higher than 4.0?

On a scale with weights, yes. Extra points are added to the 4.0 grade by taking honors and AP classes. If you plan your classes well, you can get a 4.2 or better. A GPA that isn’t weighted can never be higher than 4.0. Tell the GPA calculator college what kind of GPA you are giving them when they ask for it.

Q4. How is the UC GPA different from my regular high school GPA?

UC only counts A–G courses taken between the summer after 9th grade and the summer after 11th grade. Plus and minus grades are not counted, and honors bonus points can only be earned for eight semesters, with no more than four from 10th grade. The two numbers usually don’t match up because your transcript includes all of your classes from all four years.

Q5. What courses count toward my GPA?

Almost everything on your high school transcript, even your electives, counts toward your HS GPA calculator. Universities are stricter about recalculating, and they generally only look at core subjects like English, math, science, social science, and a foreign language. People often drop out of classes like PE, band, and club, so an easy A there might not help your GPA for the application.

Q6. What’s the difference between semester and cumulative GPA?

The semester GPA is for one term. The weights of the credit hours you earned in each term are added together to get your cumulative GPA. When your terms have different amounts of credits, like in the 3.58 example above, adding up your semester GPAs gives you the wrong answer.

Conclusion

You now know the whole way. Your basic GPA is the sum of all the points you get for each letter grade. In high school, grades are weighted, so the same report card with no weighting gives you a 3.80 and a 4.10 with weighting. While in college, you earn more credit hours, so a 4-credit class is worth more than a 1-credit lab. Adding up 29 quality points over 8 credits equals 3.625. 

That same weighted math is then used by schools like UC and UF in their own way, with their own course lists and award rules. After you see all four, they don’t seem strange anymore. Use the GPA calculator at the top of this page to figure out your own grades. Save both your weighted and unweighted grades, and make sure you update them every term so you’re always ready when an application asks.