Enter each course, its letter grade and credit hours to get your weighted GPA on the 4.0 scale.
Grade point average condenses a whole transcript into a single number on a 0–4.0 scale. The trick is that not every course carries the same weight: a four-credit lab course counts for more than a one-credit seminar. That is why GPA is credit-weighted rather than a simple average of your grades.
The process has three steps. First, each letter grade becomes grade points on the standard scale — A is 4.0, B is 3.0, C is 2.0, D is 1.0, F is 0, with plus and minus grades adjusting by 0.3 (so A− is 3.7 and B+ is 3.3). Second, multiply each course's grade points by its credit hours to get "quality points". Third, add all the quality points and divide by the total credit hours. The calculator repeats this every time you change a grade or credit value.
Because heavier courses count more, an A in a five-credit course lifts your GPA far more than an A in a one-credit elective. The flip side is that a poor grade in a high-credit course drags the average down hard. Understanding this helps you focus effort where it moves the number most, and it explains why two students with the same letter grades can end up with different GPAs.
This tool uses the common US 4.0 scale. Some schools use a 4.3 scale that rewards an A+, weight honors or AP classes on a 5.0 scale, or map percentages to letters differently. Check your institution's official policy for the exact conversion, but the credit-weighting method here matches how the vast majority of colleges report GPA.
Convert each letter grade to grade points (A = 4.0, B = 3.0, and so on), multiply by the course's credit hours to get quality points, add up all quality points, then divide by the total credit hours.
An unweighted GPA treats every course equally. A credit-weighted GPA — what this calculator computes — gives more influence to courses worth more credit hours, which is how colleges normally report GPA.
Most US scales adjust by 0.3: A− is 3.7, B+ is 3.3, B− is 2.7. This calculator uses that standard mapping so your average reflects plus and minus grades accurately.
On a 4.0 scale, 3.5 and above is generally considered strong, 3.0 is solid, and below 2.0 often risks academic probation. Standards vary by school and program.
Because GPA is credit-weighted, strong grades in high-credit courses move it the most. Retaking a failed course or excelling in a heavy course lifts the average faster than small gains across many light ones.