High School GPA Calculator: Weighted and Unweighted

Your GPA is one number built from every class on your transcript. The calculator does the arithmetic both ways schools report it — unweighted and weighted — so you can see which number you are actually looking at.

How high school GPA is calculated

GPA is a credit-weighted average of grade points. Every letter grade has a point value, and every class counts in proportion to its credits:

GPA = Σ (grade points × credits) ÷ Σ credits

The percent column is the common plus/minus scale. Many districts use a 10-point scale with no plus or minus instead, where 90–100 is simply an A worth 4.0. See the grading scale converter if your report card looks different.

Weighted vs. unweighted GPA

An unweighted GPA treats a regular English class and an AP English class the same. The maximum is 4.0 (or 4.33 on a thirds scale).

A weighted GPA adds a bonus for harder courses. The most common convention, which this calculator uses:

• Regular: no bonus
• Honors: +0.5 (an A counts 4.5)
• AP, IB or dual enrollment: +1.0 (an A counts 5.0)

Schools set their own rules, and some states set them for public schools. Arkansas, for example, uses a separate weighted scale for AP, IB, approved honors and concurrent courses: A = 5, B = 4, C = 3, D = 2, F = 0. The calculator does not add a bonus to an F, because a failed class earns no quality points at most schools.

Because weighting depends on how many advanced classes your school offers, two students with the same grades can have very different weighted GPAs. That is why the unweighted number is the easier one to compare.

Worked example: one semester

The calculator opens with this schedule, so you can follow along:

Multiply each point value by its credits and add: unweighted 4.0 + 3.3 + 3.7 + 3.0 + 4.0 + 1.65 = 19.65. Divide by 5.5 credits: 3.57. Weighted, the honors and AP bonuses add 0.5 + 1.0, so 21.15 ÷ 5.5 = 3.85.

Notice the half-credit Health class: it counts half as much as the others. Credits matter as much as grades when you have a mix of semester and year-long courses.

Adding more semesters

Use + Add semester to enter every term on your transcript. The table under the result shows each semester’s GPA and a cumulative row. The cumulative figure is not the average of the semester GPAs — it weights each semester by its credits, exactly as a transcript does. A light 4-credit semester moves your GPA less than a full 7-credit one.

Already know your GPA and only want to add the new term? The cumulative GPA calculator takes your current GPA and credits and adds one semester on top, and it can tell you what you need this term to hit a target.

Tick Save my courses on this device to keep your list in this browser between visits. It is stored locally only; course names never go into the shareable link.

How colleges look at your GPA

Your transcript GPA is not always the number an admissions office uses. Many colleges recalculate GPA in their own way — often counting only core academic subjects (English, math, science, social studies, world language), sometimes dropping your school’s weighting or applying their own, and sometimes leaving out ninth grade. Policies vary by college and change over time, so check each school’s admissions pages rather than relying on a general rule.

What that means in practice:

• Know both numbers. Report exactly what your transcript shows when an application asks.
• Rigor is read separately. Readers see your course list, so an AP class still shows up even if a college ignores weighting.
• Unweighted is the cleanest comparison between schools with different weighting policies.

How do you calculate GPA without credits (middle school and junior high)?

If your report card shows no credits, every class counts the same, so the GPA is a plain average of grade points. Many middle school and junior high report cards work this way, and some high school progress reports do too. In the calculator, give every class 1 credit and set the level to Regular.

Same five grades, with and without credits (unweighted 4.0 scale)

The only difference is the half-credit art class. When credits are equal, the B counts as much as English; when it is half a credit, it counts half as much, so the GPA rises from 3.60 to 3.67. That is why a GPA calculated without credits can differ from the transcript by a few hundredths.

Tips for a no-credit GPA:

• Grades given as percents? Convert them with the percent to letter grade converter if your school does not use the plus/minus scale.
• Want to know whether 3.60 is strong for your grade level? See what your GPA means.
• Wondering whether middle school grades follow you to high school? Start with the middle school GPA guide.
• Starting high school with grades already posted? Later you can add a semester to your GPA instead of retyping every class.

What to do next

• Want to know what your GPA means as a percent or letter? Use the GPA scale and converter.
• Planning a final exam that could change a grade? Try the final grade calculator.
• Working out a class grade with categories first? Open the grade calculator.
• Quarters plus a semester exam? The semester grade calculator handles that.