Trying to calculate or convert your GPA can be unnecessarily confusing. Luckily, it is not as difficult as it seems.
Let’s look at how to calculate unweighted and weighted GPAs, convert unweighted to weighted and weighted to unweighted, and find your official school unweighted or weighted GPA.
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The process of calculating your GPA
Calculate your GPA by following these steps:
- Get your final grades from your classes.
- Determine how many credits each course is worth. For high school, classes are often worth 1 credit.
- Find your school’s GPA scale (with the grade point value for each letter grade).
- Convert letter grades to their grade point values and multiply that by how many credits they are worth.
- Add the grade point values for each class.
- Divide the total grade point values by the total number of credit hours.
A common GPA scale is:
| Letter Grade | Percentage Grade | GPA |
| A+ | 98.00 – 100.00 | 4.00 |
| A | 92.00 – 97.99 | 4.00 |
| A- | 90.00 – 91.99 | 3.67 |
| B+ | 88.00 – 89.99 | 3.33 |
| B | 82.00 – 87.99 | 3.00 |
| B- | 80.00 – 81.99 | 2.67 |
| C+ | 78.00 – 79.99 | 2.33 |
| C | 72.00 – 77.99 | 2.00 |
| C- | 70.00 – 71.99 | 1.67 |
| D+ | 68.00 – 69.99 | 1.33 |
| D | 62.00 – 67.99 | 1.00 |
| D- | 60.00 – 61.99 | 0.67 |
| F | below 60 | 0.00 |
and Numerical GradesBut you need to use your school’s GPA scale.
Let’s look at an example for high school where each class is worth one credit:
| Class | Letter Grade | Grade Point Value |
| Math | C | 2.0 |
| Sociology | A | 4.0 |
| English | A | 4.0 |
| Biology | B | 3.0 |
| History | B | 3.0 |
| Total: | 16 |
| Total grade points/ total number of classes (since each class is worth 1 credit) = GPA |
| 16/5 = 3.2 |
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How to find (calculate) unweighted GPA
An unweighted GPA is the average of the final grades for all your classes.
Learn more about the meaning of Weighted or Unweighted GPA.
An unweighted GPA is generally on a 4.0 scale.
To find your unweighted GPA, you use the same process as above, but since most high school classes are worth 1 credit each, we are going to simplify the process.
To calculate an unweighted GPA:
- Get your final grades from your classes.
- Find your school’s GPA scale (with the grade point value for each letter grade) and convert letter grades to their grade point values.
- Add the grade point values for each class.
- Divide the total grade point values by the total number of classes.
Unweighted GPA example:
| Class | Letter grade | Unweighted grade point |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | A | 4.0 |
| AP United States History | A | 4.0 |
| English | A | 4.0 |
| AP Chemistry | C | 2.0 |
| Algebra | B | 3.0 |
How to find (calculate) weighted GPA
A weighted GPA is the average of your final grades in all your classes, but advanced classes are given more points.
Advanced courses such as honors classes, Advanced Placement (AP) courses, International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, and dual enrollment college courses are given extra grade points (often 1 extra point or half a point).
For example, a B in history is worth 3.0 grade points, but a B in AP US History is worth 4.0 grade points.
Some schools give 0.5 extra for honors and 1 extra point for AP, IB, or dual enrollment college courses. You will need to find out your school’s policy.
Find out more about what courses are weighted and how much.
A weighted GPA is typically on a 5.0 scale.
Calculating a weighted GPA is the same, except you need to make sure that the advanced classes are given extra weight (the extra half point or point in your school’s policy).
To calculate weighted GPA:
- Get your final grades from your classes.
- Find your school’s weighted GPA scale (with the grade point value for each letter grade) and convert letter grades to their grade point values—make sure that advanced classes are given the extra value.
- Add the grade point values for each class.
- Divide the total grade point values by the total number of classes.
Weighted GPA example:
| Class | Letter grade | Weighted grade point |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | A | 4.0 |
| AP United States History | A | 5.0 |
| English | A | 4.0 |
| AP Chemistry | C | 3.0 |
| Algebra | B | 3.0 |
See how the AP classes are given an extra point compared to the unweighted GPA. This makes the weighted GPA higher.
| Grade points/ classes = GPA |
| (4+5+4+3+3)/5= 3.8 |
How to convert unweighted GPA to weighted GPA
To convert unweighted GPA to weighted GPA, you need to:
- Find your school’s weighted GPA policy (which courses get extra value and how much).
- Go through and add to the grade point of each advanced course.
- Add up all the grade points.
- Divide the total grade points by the total number of classes.
How to convert weighted GPA to unweighted GPA
To convert weighted GPA to unweighted, you need to:
- Review your school’s weighted GPA policy (which courses get extra value and how much).
- Go through and subtract the weight value from each advanced course it had been added to.
- Add up all the grade points.
- Divide the total grade points by the total number of classes.
Example:
| Class | Letter grade | Unweighted grade point | Weighted grade point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| AP United States History | A | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| English | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| AP Chemistry | C | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| Algebra | B | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| GPA: | Unweighted GPA: (4+4+4+2+3)/5 = 3.4 | Weighted GPA: (4+5+4+3+3)/5 = 3.8 |
Note about credit hours
In our examples, we counted each class as 1 credit to simplify the process. However, while most high school classes are 1 credit hour each, this is not always the case, so check with your school.
If your class or classes are worth more than 1 credit, the process is still the same, except you need to multiply your grade point for the class by the number of credits for that class and divide the total grade points by the number of credits instead of the number of classes.
Example:
| Class | Letter Grade | Grade Point Value | Credit Hours | Grade Point x Credit Hours |
| Math | C | 2.0 | 3 | 2 x 3= 6 |
| Sociology | A | 4.0 | 3 | 4 x 3= 12 |
| English | A | 4.0 | 3 | 4 x 3= 12 |
| Biology | B | 3.0 | 4 | 3 x 4= 12 |
| History | B | 3.0 | 3 | 3 x 3= 9 |
| Total: | 16 | 51 |
| Total grade points/ total credit hours = GPA |
| 51/ 16 = 3.19 |
How to find your unweighted or weighted GPA (without calculating them)
While it can be useful to know how to calculate your GPA yourself and how to convert a weighted or unweighted GPA, your official GPA will be the GPA that your school calculates.
To find your unweighted or weighted GPA that your school calculated:
- Look on your school portal.
- Check your report card or transcript.
- Ask your guidance counselor.
Learn more about How to Find Out Your GPA.