GPA Calculator
Semester and cumulative GPA on the 4.0 scale — and an honest answer about what you'd need to hit a target.
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type here is uploaded, stored or logged.
How the arithmetic works
GPA is a credit-weighted average, not a plain one. Each course contributes
grade points × credit hours — its quality points. Sum those, divide by total
credits.
A four-credit course affects your GPA four times as much as a one-credit course. This is why a poor grade in a major lecture course hurts far more than the same grade in a one-credit seminar, and why the seminar is a poor place to try to recover.
The standard 4.0 scale
| Letter | Points | Typical % | Letter | Points | Typical % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A / A+ | 4.0 | 93–100 | C | 2.0 | 73–76 |
| A− | 3.7 | 90–92 | C− | 1.7 | 70–72 |
| B+ | 3.3 | 87–89 | D+ | 1.3 | 67–69 |
| B | 3.0 | 83–86 | D | 1.0 | 63–66 |
| B− | 2.7 | 80–82 | D− | 0.7 | 60–62 |
| C+ | 2.3 | 77–79 | F | 0.0 | Below 60 |
Some institutions do not use plus/minus at all, and a few cap A+ at 4.0 while others award 4.3. Your registrar's published scale is the one that counts.
Why a low GPA is hard to move later
Each new term is diluted by everything already banked. With 30 credits at 2.5, a perfect 15-credit term lifts you to 3.0. With 90 credits at 2.5, the same perfect term gets you to 2.71.
The practical consequence: early terms matter disproportionately, and if you are going to take a light or difficult load, front-load the effort rather than assuming you can recover later. The target mode will tell you plainly when a goal has become arithmetically unreachable — which is more useful than optimism.
Rough guidance on what a GPA opens
- 3.9+ — competitive for top graduate programmes and selective scholarships.
- 3.7–3.9 — typically magna or summa cum laude; strong for most postgraduate applications.
- 3.5–3.7 — usually cum laude; comfortably above most employer screens.
- 3.0–3.5 — solid. Clears the common 3.0 cut-off used in graduate applications and campus recruiting.
- Below 3.0 — some doors close, but experience, a strong upward trend and a well-argued application still carry weight.
Worth keeping in proportion: after your first job, almost nobody asks. GPA is a filter early on and largely irrelevant afterwards.
Weighted GPA and why it isn't comparable
Weighted scales add a bonus for course difficulty — commonly +1.0 for AP or IB and +0.5 for Honours — so a maximum can exceed 4.0. There is no standard, which means a 4.3 at one school and a 4.3 at another can represent quite different records. Admissions offices routinely recalculate to their own scale, so optimising for the weighted number is generally wasted effort.
Frequently asked questions
How is GPA calculated?
Each grade maps to a point value (A = 4.0, B = 3.0 and so on). Multiply each course's points by its credit hours to get quality points, add those up, then divide by total credit hours. A four-credit A and a one-credit C average much closer to the A than a simple mean would suggest.
What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?
Unweighted caps at 4.0 regardless of course difficulty. Weighted adds a bonus for harder courses — typically +1.0 for AP or IB and +0.5 for Honours — so an A in AP Chemistry counts as 5.0. Weighted GPAs above 4.0 are normal and are why some students report a 4.3.
How do I raise a low GPA?
Arithmetic works against you as credits accumulate: with 90 credits banked, one more term barely moves the average. Use the target mode to see what is actually required. If the number it returns is above 4.0, the honest answer is that the target is out of reach and your effort is better spent elsewhere.
Do pass/fail courses count?
Usually not toward GPA — they earn credit without quality points. That makes them a way to protect a GPA in a difficult elective, though many programmes limit how many you may take, and some graduate schools view a run of them unfavourably.
Does my institution use this exact scale?
Not necessarily. Plus/minus handling varies, some schools use a 5.0 or percentage scale, and Indian and European systems differ entirely. Check your registrar's published scale — this tool uses the most common US 4.0 mapping.