Unweighted GPA Calculator (High School & College)
Use this free and simple **unweighted GPA calculator** to find your GPA on the standard 4.0 scale. This tool is perfect for high school and college students who need to **calculate unweighted GPA** for college applications, scholarships, or personal tracking. It treats all courses equally, regardless of their difficulty level (e.g., AP, IB, Honors).
Clear Instructions & Next Steps
Your calculated unweighted GPA is shown above. This is a standard measure used by many colleges for admissions. Use the buttons below to save, print, or share your report.
How to Calculate Unweighted GPA: A Detailed Guide
Calculating your unweighted GPA is a fundamental skill for any high school or college student. Unlike a weighted GPA, the unweighted GPA provides a straightforward measure of academic performance on a standard **4.0 GPA scale**. This guide will walk you through **how to calculate unweighted GPA** and explain why it's the most common metric used by colleges for admissions.
An unweighted GPA does not give extra "weight" or points for advanced, honors, AP, or IB courses. Every class is treated equally. An 'A' in a standard-level English class has the same impact on your GPA as an 'A' in AP Calculus. This is why it's considered a fair, baseline measure for comparing students from different schools.
The Unweighted GPA Formula
The formula to **calculate unweighted GPA** is simple: you divide the sum of your grade points by the total number of courses or credits.
Unweighted GPA = Total Grade Points / Total Credits (or Courses)
- Grade Points: Each letter grade corresponds to a numeric value on the 4.0 scale.
- Total Grade Points: The sum of the grade points from all your courses.
- Total Credits: The sum of all credit hours for your courses.
Official Unweighted GPA Scale (4.0 Grade Points Table)
This is the standard **GPA chart** used by our **high school GPA calculator** and for most college-level calculations.
| Letter Grade | Grade Points |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| F | 0.0 |
Example Calculation
Let's say a student has the following grades in a semester:
- English (3 credits) with an A (4.0 points) → 3 × 4.0 = 12.0 Grade Points
- AP Calculus (3 credits) with a B+ (3.3 points) → 3 × 3.3 = 9.9 Grade Points
- History (3 credits) with a B (3.0 points) → 3 × 3.0 = 9.0 Grade Points
- Science (3 credits) with an A- (3.7 points) → 3 × 3.7 = 11.1 Grade Points
Total Credits: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12
Total Grade Points: 12.0 + 9.9 + 9.0 + 11.1 = 42.0
Unweighted GPA: 42.0 / 12 = 3.50
Notice that the "AP" in AP Calculus had no extra impact on the calculation. If this were a weighted GPA, the B+ might have been worth more points.
Unweighted vs. Weighted GPA: What Do Colleges Prefer?
This is a common source of confusion for students. While your high school might proudly display your weighted GPA on your transcript, most colleges will recalculate it themselves.
- Unweighted GPA (This Calculator): Provides a baseline of academic performance on a level playing field. Colleges use this to quickly assess your core academic abilities. It's the most common "first look" GPA.
- Weighted GPA: Gives extra points for challenging courses (e.g., an A in an AP class might be a 5.0 instead of a 4.0). This shows that you took on a rigorous course load. You can calculate this with our Weighted Final Grade Calculator.
What do colleges prefer? The answer is both, but for different reasons. Colleges will almost always look at your **unweighted GPA** first to see your baseline performance. Then, they will look at the rigor of your coursework (the AP, IB, and honors classes) to add context. A student with a 3.8 unweighted GPA who took many AP classes is generally more competitive than a student with a 4.0 unweighted GPA who only took standard-level courses.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What is an unweighted GPA?
A: An unweighted GPA measures your academic performance on a standard 4.0 scale, where an A is always a 4.0, a B is a 3.0, and so on, regardless of the difficulty of the class. It treats all courses equally.
Q2: How is unweighted GPA different from weighted GPA?
A: A weighted GPA gives extra "weight" or points to grades earned in more challenging classes like Honors, AP, or IB. For example, an A in an AP class might be worth 5.0 points. An unweighted GPA does not do this; every A is a 4.0.
Q3: What’s a good unweighted GPA for college admissions?
A: A **3.5 to 4.0 unweighted GPA** is generally considered strong for most four-year universities. For highly selective or Ivy League schools, applicants often have an unweighted GPA of 3.8 or higher.
Q4: Does this unweighted GPA calculator work for both high school and college?
A: Yes. This **high school gpa calculator** is also perfect for college students, as the standard 4.0 unweighted scale is the most common system used in U.S. higher education.