Free GPA Calculator (+ Guide)

What is a GPA calculator?

A GPA calculator turns letter grades into a grade point average, one number for all your classes.

Colleges and employers use it to compare students quickly, which is why it pays to know exactly how yours is worked out.

How GPA is worked out

College Board's guide gives the 4.0 scale: A 90 to 100 is 4 points, B 3, C 2, D 1, and below 65 is 0.

Most universities add plus and minus grades in steps of 0.3. Here's UNC-Chapel Hill's registrar:

Then each grade counts by its credits. As Appalachian State's registrar puts it, your GPA is your quality points ÷ your hours, where quality points are grade points × credits.

A worked example

Here's the example the calculator loads, 4 classes over 14 credits:

That's 48.7 points ÷ 14 credits = a 3.48 GPA.

Weighted, with honors +0.5 and AP +1, it's 54.2 ÷ 14 = 3.87.

How weighted GPA works

Many high schools add points for harder classes, so an A in AP Calculus can count more than 4.

College Board notes that some schools weight AP and honors classes, but each school sets its own points. A common setup is +0.5 for honors and +1 for AP or IB, which is what the calculator starts with.

Check your school's handbook and change the 2 numbers to match.

Mistakes to avoid

These are the ways a GPA comes out wrong.

• Averaging grades without credits: a 4-credit class counts more than a 1-credit one
• Mixing scales: a school without plus and minus counts a B+ as 3.0
• Adding weight to an F: no school gives extra points for a failed class
• Comparing a weighted GPA to an unweighted one

Who is the GPA calculator for?

It's for high school and college students, and these tools help around it.

• Grade calculator – for your grade in 1 class and what the final needs
• Percentage calculator – for test scores as percents
• Reading time calculator – for how long your reading list takes

Know your number, then aim it where you want it.