Report the GPA your school reports
Applications usually ask for the GPA on your transcript and the scale it uses. Use this calculator to plan and check, and copy the official figure onto forms.
High school GPA calculator
Add each class with its grade and level. You get your unweighted and weighted GPA together.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my GPA for high school?
Give each class its grade points (A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0, with plus and minus in between), multiply by the class’s credits, add everything up and divide by the total credits. That is your unweighted GPA. For a weighted GPA, add the Honors or AP bonus to each of those classes first.
What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?
An unweighted GPA treats every class the same on a 4.0 scale. A weighted GPA adds extra points for harder classes — commonly 0.5 for Honors and 1.0 for AP or IB — so it can go above 4.0.
Is a 3.7 GPA an A or a B?
A 3.7 is an A− on the standard 4.0 scale. As an average it means mostly As with a few Bs.
Do half-year classes count less?
Usually. Many high schools give a full-year class 1 credit and a semester class 0.5, so a semester class carries half the weight. Enter the credits your transcript shows.
Which GPA do colleges look at?
Both appear on applications, and many colleges recalculate your GPA with their own rules because every high school weights differently. That is why this calculator always shows the unweighted figure next to the weighted one.
How high school GPA is calculated
Each class gets grade points from its letter grade. Multiply the points by the class’s credits — often 1 for a full-year class and 0.5 for a semester class — then divide the total by all your credits. That is your unweighted GPA, on a scale that tops out at 4.0.
For your weighted GPA, the same classes get a bonus by level before the division: a common convention is +0.5 for Honors and +1.0 for AP, IB and dual enrollment. Your school may use different numbers, so both bonuses are editable above.
A worked example
The six classes pre-filled above give 20.0 grade points over 5.5 credits, an unweighted GPA of 3.64. Honors English adds 0.5 and AP US History adds 1.0, so the weighted total is 21.5 and the weighted GPA is 21.5 ÷ 5.5 = 3.91.
| Class | Grade | Level | Unweighted | Weighted | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English 10 | A | Honors | 4.0 | 4.5 | 1 |
| Algebra II | B+ | Regular | 3.3 | 3.3 | 1 |
| US History | A− | AP | 3.7 | 4.7 | 1 |
| Chemistry | B | Regular | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1 |
| Spanish II | A | Regular | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1 |
| Physical Education | A | Regular | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.5 |
GPA across all four years
Your cumulative high school GPA covers every graded class from 9th grade on. The simplest way to get it here is to enter every class from every year. Or use the cumulative GPA calculator: start from the GPA and credits on your transcript and add this year’s classes. Keep weighted and unweighted figures separate — never combine a weighted GPA with unweighted grades.
Harder classes are not automatically better
With the common +1.0 AP bonus, an AP B (3.0 + 1.0) counts the same as a regular A in your weighted GPA, but it lowers your unweighted GPA. The two figures side by side show that trade-off.
What this calculator assumes
- Letter grades convert on the scale you pick; the standard scale is The Princeton Review’s table.
- Weighted bonuses default to +0.5 for Honors and +1.0 for AP, IB and dual enrollment — a common convention, not a rule. An F never gets a bonus.
- Credits weight each class. If your school averages classes equally, give every class the same credit value.