How do you calculate an unweighted GPA?

Convert each letter grade to its point value on the 4.0 scale (A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, F = 0.0), add the points together, and divide by the number of courses. For example, four As and one B gives (4.0 + 4.0 + 4.0 + 4.0 + 3.0) ÷ 5 = 3.8 GPA on an unweighted scale.

What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?

An unweighted GPA uses a flat 4.0 scale for every course, so an A in any class is worth 4.0. A weighted GPA adds extra points for harder classes — typically +1.0 for AP or IB courses and +0.5 for honors — so an A in an AP class is worth 5.0. Weighted GPA rewards students for taking more challenging coursework and can exceed 4.0.

How many points is an A+, A, and A− worth on the GPA scale?

On the standard unweighted 4.0 scale, an A and A+ are both 4.0, an A− is 3.7, a B+ is 3.3, a B is 3.0, a B− is 2.7, and so on, dropping by 0.3 per step. Some schools use a simpler scale where any A (including A− and A+) is a flat 4.0. Check your school's specific scale.

Do colleges look at weighted or unweighted GPA?

Most colleges look at both. Unweighted GPA shows how well you did regardless of course difficulty, while weighted GPA shows how you challenged yourself. Highly selective colleges recalculate GPA themselves using their own weighting system, so the exact number your school reports is less important than the rigor of your coursework and your grades in it.

How can I raise my GPA?

Focus on the classes where you are closest to the next grade boundary, take weighted courses (AP, IB, honors) if you can handle the rigor, and protect your lowest grades first since they pull the average down most. Consistent homework completion and retaking or replacing a failing grade (where your school allows it) have the largest impact per point of effort.

How to Calculate GPA: Weighted and Unweighted Explained

Grade point average — GPA — is the single number that summarizes your academic performance across all your classes. It shows up on report cards, scholarship applications, and college admissions forms, yet the way it is calculated often stays a black box. This guide breaks down how GPA works on both the unweighted 4.0 scale and the weighted scale used for honors, AP, and IB courses, walks through a full example calculation, and explains what matters most when you are trying to raise it.

What GPA actually represents

A GPA is a weighted (or unweighted) average of the point values assigned to each of your letter grades. Each grade maps to a number, and the GPA is the mean of those numbers across your courses. What varies from school to school is the grade-to-point scale and whether harder courses get a bonus.

The two systems you will encounter are:

Unweighted GPA: every course uses the same 4.0 scale. An A is always 4.0, whether it is in gym or AP Physics.
Weighted GPA: harder courses add bonus points. AP and IB classes get +1.0, honors classes get +0.5, so an A in AP Physics is worth 5.0 instead of 4.0.

Understanding which scale your school uses is the first step, because a 3.7 unweighted and a 3.7 weighted mean very different things. If you want to skip the manual work, a grade calculator handles the point conversion and averaging for you once you enter your courses and grades.

The unweighted 4.0 scale

The unweighted scale is the baseline. Each letter grade maps to a fixed point value:

Letter grade	Point value
A / A+	4.0
A−	3.7
B+	3.3
B	3.0
B−	2.7
C+	2.3
C	2.0
C−	1.7
D+	1.3
D	1.0
F	0.0

Some schools use a simpler version where any A (including A−) is a flat 4.0 and the scale drops by a full point per letter. The table above reflects the more common plus/minus scale. Always check your school's specific grading policy.

How to calculate unweighted GPA

The calculation is a straightforward average: convert each grade to its point value, add the points, and divide by the number of courses.

GPA = (Sum of grade points) ÷ (Number of courses)

If your school weights by credit hours (a 1-credit class counts more than a 0.5-credit class), multiply each course's point value by its credits, add those products, and divide by the total credits instead. The principle is the same — it is just a weighted average.

A grade calculator is useful here when you have many courses or credit-hour weights to account for, since it handles the multiplication and division without arithmetic slips.

Worked example: five courses, unweighted

Suppose a student takes five courses in a semester and earns these grades:

English: A (4.0)
Algebra II: B+ (3.3)
Biology: A− (3.7)
Spanish: B (3.0)
Art: A (4.0)

Add the points: 4.0 + 3.3 + 3.7 + 3.0 + 4.0 = 18.0. Divide by 5 courses: 18.0 ÷ 5 = 3.6. The semester GPA is 3.6 on an unweighted scale.

The weighted scale: AP, IB, and honors bonuses

Weighted GPA rewards students for taking harder classes by adding bonus points to the base scale. The most common weighting system:

AP or IB courses: +1.0 to the base value (so an A = 5.0, B = 4.0)
Honors courses: +0.5 to the base value (so an A = 4.5, B = 3.5)
Regular courses: no bonus (the standard 4.0 scale)

Because of the bonuses, a weighted GPA can exceed 4.0. A straight-A student in all AP classes could earn a 5.0 weighted GPA. This is why a 4.2 weighted can be less impressive than a 3.9 unweighted — the weighted number inflates with course rigor.

Worked example: weighted GPA

Take the same five courses, but now classify Algebra II and Biology as AP, English as honors, and Spanish and Art as regular. Using the weighted scale:

English (honors, A): 4.0 + 0.5 = 4.5
Algebra II (AP, B+): 3.3 + 1.0 = 4.3
Biology (AP, A−): 3.7 + 1.0 = 4.7
Spanish (regular, B): 3.0
Art (regular, A): 4.0

Add the weighted points: 4.5 + 4.3 + 4.7 + 3.0 + 4.0 = 20.5. Divide by 5: 20.5 ÷ 5 = 4.1. The weighted semester GPA is 4.1 — above the 4.0 ceiling of the unweighted scale, reflecting the bonus for the harder courses.

Semester GPA vs. cumulative GPA

Semester GPA covers one term's worth of grades, calculated exactly as above. Cumulative GPA rolls all your semesters together. To compute it, you add the total grade points earned across every semester and divide by the total number of courses (or total credit hours) attempted across your entire high school or college career.

Cumulative GPA is what most colleges and scholarship committees ask for. Because it is an average of averages, a strong semester raises it slowly while a weak semester drags it down slowly — early grades carry more weight simply because there are fewer of them to average against.

College admissions context

Colleges do not take your school's reported GPA at face value. Admissions offices know weighting systems vary wildly, so most selective colleges recalculate GPA using their own standardized scale — usually unweighted, with course rigor evaluated separately. What this means in practice:

A high weighted GPA from easy classes is less impressive than a slightly lower unweighted GPA from a rigorous schedule.
Colleges look at your transcript course-by-course, not just the headline number, to see whether you challenged yourself.
Trends matter: an upward trend (weak early grades, strong later ones) reads better than a downward one, even if the cumulative GPA is the same.
Some colleges cap the weighting (e.g., they may not give full credit for more than a certain number of AP courses).

If you are targeting selective schools, the strategy is clear: take the hardest courses you can do well in, and prioritize protecting your grades in core academic classes. Coursera hosts university-level courses that can help you preview challenging material before you take it for a grade, which is one of the most effective ways to protect your GPA.

Strategies to raise your GPA

Because GPA is an average, raising it is mathematically about pulling the average up — which means every C you turn into a B helps more than an A you turn into an A+. A few high-leverage moves:

Fix your lowest grades first. Moving a D to a C+ adds more GPA points than moving a B+ to an A, because the base is lower and the upward room is larger.
Take weighted courses strategically. AP and honors classes can boost a weighted GPA, but only if you can realistically earn a B or higher. A C in an AP class, even weighted, can hurt more than an A in a regular class.
Protect homework and participation. These often-devalued categories quietly determine whether a borderline grade rounds up or down.
Retake failed classes if your school allows grade replacement, which replaces the F on your GPA rather than averaging it in.
Watch cumulative drift. By junior year, each individual grade moves the cumulative less, so consistent effort matters more than any single push.

For targeted skill-building in the subjects pulling your GPA down, Udemy has affordable, on-demand courses across math, science, and writing, and Skillshare offers shorter classes on study skills, time management, and exam prep that can shore up the habits behind the grades.

Common GPA calculation mistakes

Using the wrong scale: assuming any A is 4.0 when your school uses plus/minus — an A− at 3.7 is meaningfully different from an A at 4.0.
Ignoring credit hours: a 1-credit lab and a 0.5-credit elective are not equal; if your school weights by credit, you must multiply by credits before averaging.
Counting half-credits as full: common in schools where PE or health is 0.25 credits but gets averaged in as a full course.
Mixing weighted and unweighted in the same calculation: pick one scale and apply it consistently, or you will over- or under-count.
Rounding too early: carry decimals through the calculation and round only the final GPA, usually to two places.

The bottom line

GPA is the average of your grade points, calculated by converting each letter grade to a number and dividing by the number of courses. Unweighted caps at 4.0 and treats all classes equally; weighted adds bonuses (typically +1.0 for AP/IB, +0.5 for honors) and can exceed 4.0. Colleges recalculate GPA on their own scale, so course rigor and grade trends matter as much as the headline number. For raising it, focus on your lowest grades first and take weighted classes only when you can realistically do well in them — or hand the arithmetic to a grade calculator and spend that energy on the coursework itself.

How to Calculate GPA: Weighted and Unweighted