GPA Calculator | Semester & Cumulative GPA

Quick Start Guide

  1. Add courses: Enter course, grade, and credit hours.
  2. Choose scale: Select 4.0 or 4.3 GPA scale.
  3. Review GPA: See weighted GPA instantly.
  4. Set target (optional): Estimate required grades for your goal.
  5. Paste grades (optional): Paste comma-separated rows for bulk courses.

Understanding GPA

Quality points, not grades, drive GPA

Each course contributes "quality points" — its grade point value multiplied by its credit hours — and GPA is the sum of quality points divided by total credits. A 4-credit B (3.0 × 4 = 12 quality points) moves your GPA more than a 1-credit A (4.0 × 1 = 4 quality points), which is why credit hours matter as much as the letter grade itself.

Simple vs. Target Plan

Simple mode calculates your current GPA from the courses you enter. Target Plan mode answers a different question — "what GPA do I need in my remaining credits to reach a specific overall goal?" — by solving for the required future GPA given your current GPA, current credits, and target.

4.0 vs. 4.3 scale

Most U.S. institutions use a 4.0 scale where an A tops out at 4.0. Some schools award an A+ worth 4.3 to reward exceptional performance. Check your institution's official grading policy before choosing a scale — using the wrong one will misstate your GPA relative to your transcript.

What this calculator does not cover

This calculates a straightforward weighted average — it does not apply grade replacement/repeat policies, pass/fail credits, or institution-specific rounding rules, which vary by school. For per-class weighted grades from individual assignments, see the Grade Calculator.

Features

Scale Support: Switch between common GPA scales.

Target Planning: Estimate grades needed to hit a goal GPA.

Course Breakdown: See each course's grade points and quality-point contribution.

Paste & Export: Paste comma-separated course data and export your results.

Common Use Cases

Semester GPA: compute weighted GPA from courses and credits, and recalculate as new grades are finalized.

Target GPA Planning: set a goal and estimate the required outcomes, modeling multiple grade scenarios.

Bulk Transcript Review: paste many courses at once instead of adding one by one and calculate cumulative GPA instantly.

Graduate School Prep: plan remaining courses to improve GPA and see the impact of different grade scenarios.

Frequently Asked Questions

GPA is the weighted average of your grade points: multiply each course's grade point value (A=4.0, B=3.0, etc.) by its credit hours, sum all courses' quality points, then divide by total credit hours attempted.
4.0 scale is standard (A=4.0, B=3.0, C=2.0, D=1.0, F=0.0). 4.3 scale includes A+ (A+=4.3, A=4.0, A-=3.7, etc.). Some schools use 4.3 scale for more granular grading. This calculator supports both scales and automatically converts grades.
Selective colleges often look for a 3.7+ unweighted GPA. Mid-tier universities typically accept 3.0-3.5. Community colleges and open-enrollment schools accept all GPAs. For graduate school, a 3.0+ is usually the minimum, with top programs preferring 3.5+. Use this calculator to project your GPA with future courses.
List every course from every semester in Simple mode — the calculator computes one weighted average across all of them, which is your cumulative GPA. If you only know a prior GPA and its total credits (not each course), enter those as the current GPA and credits in Target Plan mode instead.
Use Target Plan mode. Enter your current GPA, current credits, future credits, and target GPA. The calculator shows the GPA you need in future courses to reach your goal, helping you plan course loads and set realistic academic goals.
Yes — use "Paste Courses" and paste comma-separated rows in the format name, grade, credits, category (category is optional). This replaces typing each course individually, which is useful for calculating GPA across many courses or an entire transcript.
No — it computes a straight weighted average of every course you enter. If your school has a grade-replacement or repeat policy (where a retaken course replaces the original in your official GPA), only enter the course once with the grade that counts per your school's policy, since this calculator does not apply that logic automatically.
A weighted GPA typically assigns bonus grade points for honors, AP, or IB courses (for example A=5.0 instead of 4.0 on a separate 5.0 scale) to reward more rigorous coursework. This calculator computes a credit-weighted GPA — averaging grade points by credit hours — on the standard 4.0 or 4.3 scale; it does not add honors/AP bonus points on a separate weighted scale.

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