Your grade point average condenses an entire transcript into a single number between 0.0 and 4.0. Because harder classes usually carry more credit hours, a fair GPA has to weight each grade by how much the course counts — which is exactly what this calculator does.
How weighting works
Each letter grade maps to a grade-point value: an A is 4.0, a B is 3.0, a C is 2.0, and pluses and minuses shift the value by roughly 0.3. To find your GPA, multiply each course's grade points by its credit hours, add those products together, and divide by the total number of credits. A four-credit A therefore pulls your average up far more than a one-credit A, which reflects the real workload behind each grade.
Semester vs. cumulative GPA
A semester GPA covers only the courses in a single term, while a cumulative GPA blends every graded course you have taken. Schools typically report both. Because the cumulative figure averages over many more credits, one rough semester moves it less and less as your transcript grows — which is why strong early grades are so valuable.
Weighted and unweighted scales
Many high schools use a weighted scale that awards extra points for honors, AP, or IB courses, pushing a GPA above 4.0. Most colleges recalculate to an unweighted 4.0 scale for fairness. This calculator uses the standard unweighted scale, so enter your raw letter grades for a clean, comparable result. To turn a test score into a percentage first, use the percentage calculator.
More worked examples
A light semester: three 3-credit courses graded A, A- and A. Enter each course with its credits and grade, and the GPA is 3.90, from 35.10 grade points over 9 credit hours.
A heavy semester: four courses worth 4, 4, 3 and 4 credits, graded B, B-, C+ and B+. The GPA is 2.86, from 42.90 grade points over 15 credit hours.
Cumulative GPA for both semesters: enter all seven courses together. The result is 3.25, from 78.00 grade points over 24 credit hours. Averaging the two semester GPAs would overstate it, because the weaker semester carried more credits; the cumulative figure always weights each course by its credit hours.
When to use this calculator
Use it to check a semester GPA before grades post, to plan how a target grade in one course moves your average, or to rebuild a cumulative GPA from a transcript. It is also useful before scholarship or honors deadlines that set a minimum GPA, though the exact cut-off and rounding rules belong to your school.
Common mistakes
Entering every course as the same number of credits ignores the weighting that makes GPA accurate. Including pass/fail or withdrawn courses can also distort the result, since most schools leave them out of the GPA. Finally, the calculator uses the standard unweighted 4.0 scale above; if your school uses a different scale or extra points for honors classes, its official GPA can differ.
Reading the result panel
The headline is your weighted GPA, rounded to two decimals. Underneath, the panel lists the number of courses, total credit hours, and total grade points, which is the sum of each course's grade value times its credits. Dividing total grade points by total credit hours gives the GPA, so you can check the figure against a transcript line by line. The standing label is a general guide based on typical cut-offs and varies by school.