GPA Calculator — Unweighted & Weighted
Add at least one course to see results.
How This Calculator Works
This calculator uses the Carnegie unit credit system, which is the standard used by virtually all U.S. colleges and universities. Each course is assigned a credit value (usually 0.5 for a semester course or 1.0 for a full-year course) and a grade. The GPA is calculated as a weighted average — courses with more credits count more toward the final GPA.
The Formula
For each course: multiply the grade points by the number of credits. Sum all those products, then divide by the total number of credits.
Example: English I (A, 1.0 cr) + Biology (B+, 1.0 cr) + Pre-Algebra (A-, 0.5 cr)
| Course | Grade | Grade Points | Credits | Quality Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English I | A | 4.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Biology | B+ | 3.3 | 1.0 | 3.3 |
| Pre-Algebra | A- | 3.7 | 0.5 | 1.85 |
| Total | 2.5 | 9.15 |
GPA = 9.15 ÷ 2.5 = 3.66
Unweighted vs. Weighted GPA
Unweighted GPA treats all courses equally on a 4.0 scale regardless of difficulty. An A in Calculus and an A in Cooking both earn 4.0 grade points.
Weighted GPA gives bonus points for honors, AP, dual enrollment, or advanced courses. The most common convention: +0.5 for Honors, +1.0 for AP or college-level courses. This calculator applies those boosts if you select "Honors" or "AP/College" for a course.
Most colleges recalculate GPA on their own scale anyway — but providing both weighted and unweighted figures on your transcript (or school profile) is considered best practice and demonstrates transparency.
Standard Grade-to-Points Conversion
| Letter Grade | Standard (4.0) | Plus/Minus Scale | Typical Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 4.0 | 4.3 | 97–100 |
| A | 4.0 | 4.0 | 93–96 |
| A- | 3.7 | 3.7 | 90–92 |
| B+ | 3.0 | 3.3 | 87–89 |
| B | 3.0 | 3.0 | 83–86 |
| B- | 3.0 | 2.7 | 80–82 |
| C+ | 2.0 | 2.3 | 77–79 |
| C | 2.0 | 2.0 | 73–76 |
| C- | 2.0 | 1.7 | 70–72 |
| D | 1.0 | 1.0 | 60–69 |
| F | 0.0 | 0.0 | Below 60 |
Note: On the standard 4.0 scale, A+, A, and A- all equal 4.0; B+, B, and B- all equal 3.0; C+, C, and C- all equal 2.0. The plus/minus scale differentiates these. Include your scale on the transcript.
How Many Credits Should Each Course Be?
One Carnegie unit equals 120 hours of instruction (approximately one school year of daily class time). For homeschoolers:
- 1.0 credit — a full-year course studied daily or near-daily (36+ weeks)
- 0.5 credit — a semester course, or a year-long course studied less intensively
- 0.25 credit — a quarter-year elective, short course, or intensive workshop
Use our Credit Hour Calculator to compute Carnegie units from actual hours of instruction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Report both, clearly labeled. Put the unweighted GPA in the main GPA field on the transcript (since that's what colleges expect as a baseline) and include the weighted GPA on your school profile page with an explanation of the weighting system you used. Never report only a weighted GPA without disclosing that it is weighted — admissions officers will flag an unexplained 4.4 GPA.
Yes — list dual enrollment courses on the homeschool transcript with the college-assigned grade and a note that it is dual enrollment. Including them in the GPA calculation is standard practice. However, the college also issues its own official transcript, so four-year college admissions offices will see those grades twice — once in your homeschool GPA calculation and once in the college's official record. This is normal and expected.
Narrative-only transcripts are a challenge for college applications because admissions systems are built around GPA. If you used narrative evaluations, you have a few options: (1) Convert narratives to letter grades retroactively using a documented rubric; (2) Apply to colleges with holistic, portfolio-based review processes; (3) Supplement the transcript with strong SAT/ACT scores and dual enrollment grades to provide quantitative benchmarks. See our guide on narrative-to-GPA conversion for detailed steps.
List it as two half-credit entries — one for each year — with a grade for each year, or as a single 1.0 credit entry with a final grade if you assigned one overall grade. Either approach is acceptable. The important thing is that the credit value on the transcript accurately reflects the time and rigor invested.