High School GPA Calculator
Calculate both your weighted and unweighted high school GPA instantly. Supports AP, Honors, IB, and Regular courses across multiple semesters.
Unweighted 4.0 scale · Weighted 5.0 scale · Works for all 4 years of high school
Your GPA Results
Weighted vs. Unweighted High School GPA
Every high school student has two GPAs: an unweighted GPA on the standard 4.0 scale, and a weighted GPA that goes up to 5.0 and reflects the difficulty of your courses. Understanding the difference is essential for interpreting your transcript and preparing college applications.
Your unweighted GPA treats every course identically, regardless of whether it is a regular class or an Advanced Placement course. An A earns 4.0 points, a B earns 3.0, and so on. This scale is used for direct, apples-to-apples comparisons between students at different schools with different curricula.
Your weighted GPA adds bonus points to reward academic rigor. AP and IB courses earn +1.0 extra points per grade level, so an A in AP Calculus is worth 5.0 weighted points rather than 4.0. Honors courses earn +0.5, so an A in Honors English is worth 4.5. These bonuses mean a student taking all AP classes could achieve a weighted GPA above 4.0 even with a few B grades.
Which matters more for college? Most colleges recalculate applicants' GPAs on an unweighted basis to compare students from different schools fairly. However, your weighted GPA and your course selection (how many AP, IB, or Honors courses you took) are both visible on your transcript. Admissions officers want to see that you challenged yourself — a 3.5 unweighted GPA earned in a rigorous schedule often impresses more than a 3.8 earned in only easy courses.
Use this calculator to see both numbers simultaneously so you always know exactly where you stand on both scales.
| Course Type | Grade | Unweighted | Weighted |
|---|---|---|---|
| AP / IB | A | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| AP / IB | B | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| AP / IB | C | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| Honors | A | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Honors | B | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Honors | C | 2.0 | 2.5 |
| Regular | A | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Regular | B | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Regular | C | 2.0 | 2.0 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about high school GPA.
An unweighted GPA uses the standard 4.0 scale for all courses — an A always equals 4.0 points regardless of whether the class is Regular, Honors, or AP. A weighted GPA adds bonus points for rigorous coursework: +1.0 for AP and IB courses and +0.5 for Honors courses, pushing the maximum to 5.0. Weighted GPA rewards students who challenge themselves with advanced coursework.
Weighted GPA adds a course-type bonus before multiplying by credit hours. For AP/IB courses, add 1.0 to the standard grade points (A in AP = 5.0). For Honors, add 0.5 (A in Honors = 4.5). Regular courses receive no bonus. Then multiply each course's adjusted grade points by its credits to get quality points, sum all quality points, and divide by total credits. The result is capped at 5.0.
Most colleges recalculate applicants' GPAs on their own unweighted 4.0 scale for fair comparison. However, both your weighted GPA and transcript are visible, showing admissions officers the rigor of your coursework. A 3.5 unweighted GPA earned in an AP-heavy schedule may be viewed more favorably than a higher GPA earned in less challenging courses.
Yes. Use the 'No Credits' toggle in any semester section to switch to equal-weight mode, where every course counts equally regardless of credit hours. This is useful if your school assigns equal weight to all courses or if you simply don't have credit-hour information.
The highest possible weighted GPA is 5.0, achieved by earning an A or A+ in every AP or IB course. An A in AP or IB earns 5.0 weighted points (4.0 base + 1.0 bonus). To achieve a 5.0, a student would need perfect grades across an entirely AP/IB schedule.
AP courses add a +1.0 bonus to your weighted GPA grade points. An A in AP = 5.0 weighted (vs. 4.0 unweighted). A B in AP = 4.0 weighted — the same as an A in a regular class. AP courses boost your weighted GPA and signal academic rigor to colleges, but your unweighted GPA only reflects the raw letter grade.
A 3.5+ unweighted GPA is competitive for most four-year colleges. For selective universities, aim for 3.7+. For highly competitive schools such as Ivy League institutions, applicants commonly have 3.9+ unweighted GPAs. Course rigor matters too — admissions offices consider both the GPA and the difficulty of your schedule.
Cumulative high school GPA typically includes all four years (grades 9–12). However, some colleges compute a junior-year GPA using only grades 9–11 because senior year grades may not be available at application time. Some scholarship programs also use only certain years. Use the semester-by-semester feature to track how each year affects your running cumulative GPA.
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