How to calculate GPA from credits and grades

Steps

1. List each course with its credits and the grade points you earned.
2. Multiply the credits by the grade points for each course: 3 × 4.0 = 12, 4 × 3.7 = 14.8, 3 × 3.0 = 9, 3 × 3.3 = 9.9, 2 × 4.0 = 8.
3. Add the results: 12 + 14.8 + 9 + 9.9 + 8 = 53.7.
4. Add the credits: 3 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 2 = 15.
5. Divide: 53.7 ÷ 15 = 3.58. Or enter the courses in the GPA calculator.

The common 4.0 scale

A is 4.0, A− is 3.7, B+ is 3.3, B is 3.0, B− is 2.7, C is 2.0, D is 1.0 and F is 0. Use the scale your school publishes, because some schools differ, for example by giving A+ 4.3 or leaving out the minus grades.

Courses with more credits count for more. Take a 4-credit course at 4.0, a 4-credit course at 3.0 and a 3-credit course at 2.0: the GPA is (16 + 12 + 6) ÷ 11 = 3.09, not the plain average of the three grades, which is 3.0.

Planning ahead

To see what you need, add the credits and grade points you already have to the courses you expect. If you have 60 credits at a 3.2 GPA, you have 192 grade points; add the next semester’s courses to the totals and divide again. This is how you find the grades needed to reach a target GPA.

What to leave out

Leave unused course slots at 0 credits. Courses taken pass or fail usually carry no grade points and are left out of the GPA, though policies differ. For an official GPA, always use the figure on your transcript.