Calculate your weighted grade point average on a 4.0 scale.
A grade point average is a weighted mean. Each course grade converts to a point value, that value is multiplied by the credit hours the course carries, and the total is divided by the total credits attempted. Courses worth more credits therefore move your average more.
This is why a poor grade in a four-credit course hurts roughly twice as much as the same grade in a two-credit course, and why a one-credit elective cannot rescue a semester no matter how well you do in it.
| Course | Credits | Grade | Points | Credits x Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calculus | 4 | A- | 3.7 | 14.8 |
| Physics | 4 | B | 3.0 | 12.0 |
| History | 3 | A | 4.0 | 12.0 |
| Composition | 3 | B+ | 3.3 | 9.9 |
| Lab | 1 | C | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Total | 15 | 50.7 |
GPA = 50.7 / 15 = 3.38. Note that the unweighted average of the five grade points would be 3.20 — the credit weighting matters.
Most US institutions use a variant of this table. Yours may differ, particularly in whether it awards an A+ above 4.0 and whether it uses plus/minus grades at all.
| Letter | Points | Typical percentage |
|---|---|---|
| A+ / A | 4.0 | 93-100 |
| A- | 3.7 | 90-92 |
| B+ | 3.3 | 87-89 |
| B | 3.0 | 83-86 |
| B- | 2.7 | 80-82 |
| C+ | 2.3 | 77-79 |
| C | 2.0 | 73-76 |
| C- | 1.7 | 70-72 |
| D+ | 1.3 | 67-69 |
| D | 1.0 | 63-66 |
| F | 0.0 | Below 60 |
High schools frequently report two figures. The unweighted GPA caps at 4.0 and treats every course identically. The weighted GPA adds a bonus for harder courses — typically 1.0 for AP or IB and 0.5 for honours — so an A in AP Chemistry scores 5.0 and the overall figure can exceed 4.0. A weighted 4.3 and an unweighted 3.9 can describe the same transcript, so always check which one a form is asking for. Many universities recalculate everything on their own scale anyway, stripping out non-academic courses and applying their own weightings, which is why an admissions GPA often differs from the one on your transcript.
A cumulative GPA is not the average of your semester GPAs unless every semester carried identical credits. Combine the underlying totals instead:
Where quality points are credits multiplied by grade points. To find what you need this term to reach a target, rearrange it: multiply your target GPA by the total credits you will have, subtract the quality points you have already banked, and divide by this term's credits. If the answer exceeds 4.0, the target is out of reach this term.
The other thing worth internalising is inertia. After 90 credits, a single 15-credit semester is only a sixth of the total, so a perfect term moves a 3.0 cumulative to about 3.17. Early grades are disproportionately durable, which cuts both ways.
Because these rules differ, a calculator can only ever be an estimate. Your registrar's published policy is the authority on the number that appears on your transcript.
Only if every semester carried the same number of credits. Otherwise you must total the quality points and total the credits across all terms and divide, since a heavier semester should count for more.
Unweighted caps at 4.0 and treats all courses the same. Weighted adds points for advanced courses — usually 1.0 for AP or IB and 0.5 for honours — so it can exceed 4.0. Check which one an application is asking for.
At most institutions they do not. You earn the credit toward graduation but the course is excluded from the GPA calculation, so it neither helps nor hurts the average.
Less than you would expect once you have accumulated credits. With 90 credits already earned at a 3.0, a perfect 15-credit semester lifts you only to about 3.17, because the new term is one sixth of the total.
It depends entirely on your institution's policy. Some replace the first attempt, some average both, and some count both attempts separately. Check the registrar's rules before assuming a retake will erase a low grade.