Track grades across semesters & plan your target GPA
Free · No signupCalculating GPA by hand is straightforward once you know the formula. This guide walks through the 5 steps with worked examples for high school, college credit-hour weighting, weighted Honors/AP classes, and cumulative multi-semester GPA. No calculator needed for the math — a piece of paper is enough.
Every GPA comes from the same core formula:
Everything else — weighted AP scales, credit hours, pass/fail exceptions — is a variation on this single rule. Let's break it into 5 steps.
Use the standard US 4.0 scale. Write down the grade points for each course:
| Letter | Points | Letter | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| A / A+ | 4.0 | C+ | 2.3 |
| A− | 3.7 | C | 2.0 |
| B+ | 3.3 | C− | 1.7 |
| B | 3.0 | D | 1.0 |
| B− | 2.7 | F | 0.0 |
Multiply grade points by credit hours to get each course's quality points. A 3-credit course with a B+ contributes 3 × 3.3 = 9.9 quality points. A 1-credit lab with an A contributes 1 × 4.0 = 4.0.
In high school, most classes are 1 credit. In college, classes are typically 3 or 4 credits, with labs and PE at 1 credit.
Sum the quality points across every course you want to include in this GPA. Don't include Pass/Fail, Withdrawn (W), or Audited courses.
Sum the credit hours from the same set of courses you used in step 3. The credit-hour total is the denominator of your GPA.
That's your GPA. Round to two decimal places. A result of 3.47 means a 3.47 GPA on the 4.0 scale.
A 10th grader takes 6 classes, each worth 1 credit:
| Class | Credits | Grade | Points | Quality Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | 1 | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Geometry | 1 | B+ | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Biology | 1 | A− | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| World History | 1 | B | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Spanish II | 1 | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Art | 1 | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Total | 6 | 22.0 |
Same student, but now they take AP Biology and Honors Geometry. Honors adds +0.5, AP adds +1.0:
| Class | Type | Grade | Unweighted Pts | Weighted Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Regular | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Honors Geometry | +0.5 | B+ | 3.3 | 3.8 |
| AP Biology | +1.0 | A− | 3.7 | 4.7 |
| World History | Regular | B | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Spanish II | Regular | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Art | Regular | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Total (6 cr) | 22.0 | 23.5 |
Same student, two GPAs. The weighted version rewards the rigor of AP and Honors classes. Colleges typically look at both.
In college, courses have different credit hours and the weighting becomes much more important:
| Course | Credit Hours | Grade | Points | Quality Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organic Chemistry | 4 | B | 3.0 | 12.0 |
| Chem Lab | 1 | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Calculus III | 4 | A− | 3.7 | 14.8 |
| Intro Philosophy | 3 | A | 4.0 | 12.0 |
| Physical Education | 1 | B+ | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Total | 13 | 46.1 |
Notice how Organic Chemistry (4 credits × B) pulls the GPA down more than the Chem Lab (1 credit × A) can lift it. That's credit-hour weighting in action — heavy classes matter most.
For cumulative GPA, you don't average the semester GPAs — you combine the underlying quality points and credit hours first.
| Semester | Credit Hours | Semester GPA | Quality Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 | 15 | 3.40 | 51.0 |
| Spring 2026 | 16 | 3.75 | 60.0 |
| Fall 2026 | 14 | 3.60 | 50.4 |
| Spring 2027 | 15 | 3.80 | 57.0 |
| Total | 60 | 218.4 |
Common mistake: averaging the four semester GPAs gives (3.40 + 3.75 + 3.60 + 3.80) ÷ 4 = 3.6375 → 3.64. In this case they happen to match, but only because the credit hours are similar. If one semester was 6 credits and another was 21, the two methods give different answers. Always combine the quality points, not the GPAs.
Enter your courses and see your GPA update in real time. Supports 8 scales and auto-imports from a transcript photo.