Add your classes, mark which ones are honors, AP, IB or college courses, and set the extra points your school gives them. You get your weighted and unweighted GPA side by side, and you can see exactly how much the harder classes lift your number.
Enter your classes
How your school weights harder classes
An F never earns extra points. Your school’s grading policy says which applies.
Your classes
Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Your weighted GPA
Your GPA shows up here once you add a class with a grade.
What to enter
- Grade and level
- Pick the grade you got and the level of the class: regular, honors, AP, IB, or a dual enrollment or college course.
- Extra points
- Each level above regular adds extra points to the grade. The two published examples on the page use 0.5 for honors and 1.0 for AP. Your school sets its own, so change them to match your transcript or grading policy.
- Which grades earn the bump
- Some schools give the extra point to any passing grade. Others, like the University of California, give it only for a C or better. Pick the one your school uses.
- Credit
- Use 1 for a full-year class and 0.5 for a semester class. If your school weights by credit hours, enter those.
A worked example
Here is a made-up student with six classes. Honors adds 0.5 and AP adds 1.0, as in the published example. Credits are 1 for a full-year class and 0.5 for PE.
| Class | Level | Grade | Unweighted | Extra | Weighted | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Regular | A | 4.0 | 0 | 4.0 | 1 |
| Spanish | Regular | A | 4.0 | 0 | 4.0 | 1 |
| Chemistry | Honors | B | 3.0 | +0.5 | 3.5 | 1 |
| US History | AP | B | 3.0 | +1 | 4.0 | 1 |
| Calculus | AP | A | 4.0 | +1 | 5.0 | 1 |
| PE | Regular | A | 4.0 | 0 | 4.0 | 0.5 |
The weighted points times credits add up to 22.50, and the credits add up to 5.5. That makes a weighted GPA of 4.09. Without the extra points, the same classes give an unweighted GPA of 3.64. The harder classes lift the number by 0.45.
If the same student had earned an A in every class, the weighted GPA would be 4.45. If they had taken all six as regular classes and earned straight As, it would be 4.00, and the weighted and unweighted numbers would match.
| Weighted | Unweighted | |
|---|---|---|
| As and Bs, with honors and AP | 4.09 | 3.64 |
| Straight As, with honors and AP | 4.45 | 4.00 |
| Straight As, all regular classes | 4.00 | 4.00 |
The bump rule also matters. If the student’s school gave the extra point only for a C or better, the result would not change here, because every grade is a B or better. A D in an AP class would earn the extra point under one rule and not the other.
Published weighting examples
These are the two published examples the form can start from. Neither is a standard, so change the numbers to match your school.
| Example | Extra points | Grades that earn them |
|---|---|---|
| Honors +0.5, AP and IB +1.0 (a Charlotte-Mecklenburg example) | Honors +0.5, AP +1, IB +1, Dual enrollment or college course +1 | D and above |
| One extra point for honors-level classes, A to C only (UC style) | Honors +1, AP +1, IB +1, Dual enrollment or college course +1 | C and above |
How the weighted GPA is calculated
- Each letter grade is turned into points on your scale, for example A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1 and F = 0.
- If the class is honors, AP, IB or a college course, the extra points for that level are added, as long as the grade is high enough to earn them. An F never earns extra points.
- Each class’s points are multiplied by its credit, and the results are added up.
- The total is divided by your total credits. That is your weighted GPA. Without the extra points, the same sum gives your unweighted GPA.
Weighted GPA = sum of ((grade points + extra points) × credit) ÷ sum of credits
Assumptions to keep in mind
- High schools set their own weights, and there is no national standard. The presets are two published examples and the page lets you change every number.
- The Charlotte-Mecklenburg example lists honors and AP only. The page applies the same extra point to IB and dual enrollment as it does to AP, so change those if your school differs.
- Many colleges recalculate your GPA. Some use the unweighted number, some use their own weights, and some only look at core classes.
- The page counts the classes you enter. It does not know your school’s rules for repeated classes, pass/fail classes or classes taken before high school.
- The "top possible" figure is what you would have with an A in every class you entered.
Mistakes that give the wrong GPA
Using the weights from another school
Honors might add 0.5 at one school and 1.0 at another, and some schools do not weight at all. Use the numbers on your own grading policy.
Giving the extra points to an F
A failing grade in an AP class earns no bump. A D may or may not earn it, depending on your school, so set that option before you trust the number.
Mixing up weighted and unweighted
Colleges often ask for one or the other. Your weighted GPA can be above 4.0 and your unweighted GPA cannot, so check which one the form wants.
Forgetting credits
A semester class counts half as much as a full-year class at many schools. If you enter every class as 1, your number can be off.
Expecting the same GPA on every application
Colleges can recalculate it from your transcript, so it may not match the number on your school report.
Questions students ask
What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?
Your unweighted GPA treats every class the same, so an A is a 4 no matter what the class is. Your weighted GPA adds extra points for harder classes like honors, AP and IB, so it can go above 4.0.
How much does an AP class add to GPA?
It depends on the school. One published example, from a Charlotte-Mecklenburg high school, adds 1.0 for AP and 0.5 for honors, so an A in an AP class is a 5. Other schools use different numbers, so check yours.
Do colleges use weighted or unweighted GPA?
It varies. Many recalculate your GPA from your transcript, so check each college’s instructions. The University of California, for example, uses its own capped formula. The high school GPA calculator works that out.
Can my weighted GPA be higher than 4.0?
Yes. With a bump of 1.0 for AP, an A in an AP class is a 5.0, and a weighted GPA can go over 4.0. Your unweighted GPA tops out at the top of your scale.
Is there a college GPA version?
College GPAs work on credit hours and different scales, and the GPA calculator handles that. If you want to know what you need to reach a target, the target GPA calculator shows the average you need.
