Your GPA is the single number colleges see first, and it's simple math: every letter grade maps to points on a 4.0 scale, and your GPA is the average. Add your classes below, choose each grade and course type, and this calculator shows your weighted and unweighted GPA instantly — plus everything you need to know about how colleges will actually read those numbers.
Instructions
Add one row per class. Pick the letter grade you earned and the course type — Honors adds +0.5 and AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment add +1.0 to the weighted calculation. Classes are equally weighted (most high schools don't use credit hours; if yours does, use our credit-based calculator).
Class name (optional)
Grade
Course type
Your classes save automatically in this browser — come back anytime to update grades.
WEIGHTED GPA
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Pick a grade for at least one class to see your GPA.
Unweighted
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Semester grades? Enter each semester of a class as its own row — that's how your transcript counts them. Planning ahead? See what next term does to your overall number with the cumulative GPA calculator.
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Every letter grade converts to grade points: an A is 4.0, a B is 3.0, a C is 2.0, and plus/minus grades land in between. Your unweighted GPA is the plain average of those points across all your classes. Say you earned an A in English (4.0), an A− in Biology (3.7), a B+ in Algebra II (3.3), and a B in Spanish (3.0): that's 14.0 points across four classes, for a 3.50 GPA.
A weighted GPA runs the same average after adding a rigor bump to advanced classes — most schools add 0.5 for Honors and 1.0 for AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment courses. The same four grades, if the English class were AP and the Biology class Honors, would average to ((5.0 + 4.2 + 3.3 + 3.0) / 4) = 3.88 weighted.
The GPA Scale: Letter Grades to Grade Points
Standard US 4.0 scale (A+ = 4.0 convention)
Letter grade
Grade points
A+
4.0
A
4.0
A-
3.7
B+
3.3
B
3.0
B-
2.7
C+
2.3
C
2.0
C-
1.7
D+
1.3
D
1.0
D-
0.7
F
0.0
For the weighted versions of every grade — and the 5.0-scale chart — see our full GPA scale reference.
Weighted vs. Unweighted: the Same Transcript, Two Numbers
Here's one semester of a student taking two advanced classes, scored both ways:
Class
Grade
Unweighted
Weighted
AP US History
A-
3.7
4.7
Honors Chemistry
B+
3.3
3.8
English 11
A
4.0
4.0
Algebra II
B
3.0
3.0
Spanish III
A
4.0
4.0
Semester GPA
3.60
3.90
The gap between your weighted and unweighted GPA is a quick read on course rigor: a big gap means you're taking on advanced classes. Colleges notice the rigor itself more than the inflated number — a 3.9 weighted built on many APs reads very differently from a 3.9 unweighted in regular classes.
What Is a Good High School GPA?
The honest answer: it depends on where you're applying. As rough unweighted benchmarks for admitted students:
College selectivity
Typical unweighted GPA of admits
Ivy League / top-10 universities
3.9 – 4.0
Top-50 universities
3.7 – 3.9
Competitive state flagships
3.5 – 3.8
Most four-year colleges
3.0 – 3.5
Open-admission colleges
2.0+
GPA is one leg of the application — course rigor, test scores, essays, and activities carry real weight too. To see how your full profile stacks up at specific schools, try our Admissions Chances Calculator.
How Colleges Recalculate Your GPA
Many admissions offices don't take your transcript GPA at face value. Because a weighted 4.2 at one school and a 3.8 at another can represent identical work, colleges often recompute a standardized GPA: unweighted, core academic courses only, sometimes excluding freshman year. The University of California, for instance, computes its own capped-weighted GPA from 10th–11th grade A-G courses. The practical takeaway: maximize real grades in real academic classes — you can't game the recalculation.
Frequently Asked Questions
At most US high schools an A+ counts as 4.0, the same as an A — that is the convention this calculator uses. A minority of schools (and some Canadian universities) use a 4.3 scale where an A+ earns extra credit. Your transcript's GPA legend will say which scale your school uses.
At almost every high school, yes — your cumulative GPA includes every graded class from 9th grade on. A few universities (most famously the University of California system) recalculate applicant GPAs using only 10th and 11th grade coursework, but your school transcript itself still includes freshman year.
Both, in different ways. Admissions officers usually start from your unweighted GPA to compare students on the same 4.0 scale, then look at course rigor — how many honors, AP, and IB classes you took — separately. Many colleges also recalculate your GPA with their own formula, so the weighted number on your transcript is mostly useful for class rank at your own school.
Yes, but the math gets harder every semester because earlier grades keep their full weight. If you have a 3.0 through sophomore year and earn a 4.0 across junior year, your cumulative GPA rises to about 3.4. Use our cumulative GPA calculator to model exactly what your target semester grades would do.
Usually, yes — any class that receives a letter grade is typically included in your school GPA, including electives and PE. Some colleges recalculate using academic core courses only (English, math, science, social studies, and language), which is why your 'recalculated' GPA can differ from the one on your transcript.
Most colleges weigh GPA (in the context of your school's rigor) more heavily than class rank, and many high schools no longer report rank at all. Rank mainly matters at public universities with automatic-admission thresholds, like the Texas top-10% rule.
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