GradeCalc

Unweighted GPA Calculator

Every A is a 4.0, whatever the course. This is the figure colleges recalculate so they can compare you against students from other schools.

Unweighted GPA, 4.0 scale

Turn this off if your school scores every A as 4.0, every B as 3.0 and so on. Check your transcript rather than guessing — the two conventions can differ by a third of a point.

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Your unweighted GPA3.57

unweighted, 4.0 scale · 7 courses

Courses counted 7
Quality points 25
Plus / minus On

Plus / minus
counted
Quality points
25
Courses counted
7
Unweighted GPA
3.57

This calculator needs JavaScript to recalculate. The answer shown above was worked out when the page was built and is correct for the date in the address bar.

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What "unweighted" means and why colleges want it

An unweighted GPA maps every letter grade to the same number of points regardless of how difficult the course was. An A in AP Physics and an A in Ceramics are both 4.0. The maximum is 4.0 and nothing can push it higher.

That looks like it throws away information, and it does — deliberately. Weighting schemes are set by individual schools and they are wildly inconsistent: one district adds a full point for AP, another adds half, a third adds nothing and reports unweighted only, and a fourth caps weighted GPAs at 4.5. A weighted GPA from School A and a weighted GPA from School B are not the same measurement, so they cannot be ranked against each other. The unweighted figure can be, which is exactly why admissions offices recalculate it.

Many go further and rebuild your GPA from academic core courses only — English, maths, science, social studies, foreign language — dropping electives, PE and study hall. If your GPA is being carried by electives, that recalculated figure will come out lower than either number on your transcript.

Worked example

The same seven courses used on the weighted page, so the two are directly comparable:

  • AP US History — B+ = 3.3
  • AP Biology — A− = 3.7
  • Honors Precalculus — B = 3.0
  • English 11 — A = 4.0
  • Spanish III — A− = 3.7
  • Studio Art — A = 4.0
  • Physical Education — B+ = 3.3

Total 25.0 ÷ 7 = 3.57. The same transcript weighted comes to 4.14 — a gap of 0.57, all of it produced by two AP courses and one honours course. Both numbers are correct and they answer different questions.

The formula

GPA = Σ pᵢ ÷ n, with the standard 4.0 mapping: A 4.0, A− 3.7, B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B− 2.7, C+ 2.3, C 2.0, C− 1.7, D+ 1.3, D 1.0, D− 0.7, F 0.

If your school records straight letters with no pluses or minuses, switch plus/minus off above. It matters: under straight letters an A− becomes a flat 4.0 and a B+ becomes a flat 3.0, which can move a GPA by a tenth of a point in either direction from identical work. That is not a rounding difference, it is a different grading system.

Where this stops being reliable

Schools that report only weighted GPAs will not match this figure, and you cannot convert between the two — a weighted GPA does not contain enough information to recover the unweighted one, because it does not record which bump applied to which course. You have to recalculate from the transcript, course by course. That is the honest answer to the most common question on this page, and it is worth stating plainly rather than offering a conversion that would be made up.

Beyond that: schools on 100-point scales use their own percentage bands, plus/minus conventions vary, and a college's own recalculation is invisible to everyone outside its admissions office.

Common questions

What does unweighted GPA mean?

Every letter grade is worth the same points no matter how hard the course is. An A is 4.0 in AP Calculus and 4.0 in PE. The scale tops out at 4.0.

Why do colleges ask for unweighted GPA?

Because weighting schemes differ between schools, so weighted GPAs are not comparable across applicants. The unweighted figure is the only one that means the same thing everywhere. Admissions offices also see your course list, so course difficulty is not lost — it is just assessed separately rather than folded into one number.

Do AP classes count toward unweighted GPA?

They count as courses but they get no bump. A B in AP Chemistry contributes exactly 3.0, the same as a B in regular Chemistry. The AP course still helps your application — it just does not help this number.

How do I convert a weighted GPA to an unweighted one?

You cannot, and any tool offering to is guessing. A weighted GPA does not record which courses got which bump, so the information needed to reverse it is not there. Recalculate from your transcript instead, entering each course with its plain letter grade — that is what the calculator above is for.

What if my school does not use pluses and minuses?

Switch plus/minus off. Under straight letters every A is 4.0 and every B is 3.0, with no 3.7 or 3.3 in between. On a transcript with several A− and B+ grades this changes the result by about a tenth of a point, so it is worth setting correctly.

Is a 3.57 unweighted GPA good?

It is above average at most US high schools and would clear a typical 3.5 honour-roll threshold. What it is good enough for depends on things this page cannot see, and we are not going to speculate — the arithmetic is what we are here for.

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