High School GPA Calculator
Enter your courses, pick Regular, Honors, or AP/IB for each, and get your weighted and unweighted high school GPA instantly. Free to use, with no login required.
Calculate Your High School GPA
Add one row per course. Choose the course level (Honors adds +0.5, AP/IB adds +1.0 to the grade points) and the letter grade you earned or expect.
Grade points: A+ = 4.0, 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 = 0.0. Weighted bonuses: Regular +0, Honors +0.5, AP/IB +1.0 (weighted GPA is capped at 5.0).
If you are a high school student trying to figure out where you stand before college applications — or a parent checking whether your teen is on track — this is the calculator built for you. A plain college-style GPA tool assumes every class counts the same, but in high school, an A in AP Chemistry is not the same as an A in regular study hall. This calculator gives you both numbers colleges care about: your unweighted GPA (the plain 4.0-scale average) and your weighted GPA (which rewards Honors, AP, and IB classes). Enter each course, choose its level, pick the grade, and you will see both results in one click.
How to Use the High School GPA Calculator
- Add your courses. Start with the four rows already there and press “+ Add Course” for more. Type the course name if you like (it is optional) — the math only needs the level and the grade.
- Pick the level and the grade for each row. Regular means no bonus, Honors adds +0.5, and AP/IB adds +1.0 to that course’s grade points. Remove any row you do not need with the × button.
- Press “Calculate GPA.” You will see your unweighted GPA, your weighted GPA, and a line under each explaining what it means. If a grade is missing, the calculator will politely point to the row that needs one.
Weighted vs. Unweighted GPA: What’s the Difference?
The unweighted GPA is the simple version. Every course’s grade points are averaged as-is on the standard 4.0 scale: an A is 4.0, a B is 3.0, and so on. Because every school can compute it the same way, unweighted GPA is the fair, apples-to-apples number — it is what people usually mean when they say “my GPA is 3.6.”
The weighted GPA rewards difficulty. Harder courses get bonus points before averaging: +0.5 for Honors and +1.0 for AP/IB in this calculator. That is why weighted GPAs can climb above 4.0 — a student with straight A’s in AP classes can reach a 5.0.
What do colleges actually look at? Most admissions offices see the weighted GPA on your transcript, then recalculate their own version using their own weighting rules so applicants from different schools can be compared fairly. So neither number is the “official” college number — but your weighted GPA shows course rigor on the transcript, and your unweighted GPA is the common ground. If your transcript is confusing you, our grade weighting explained page goes deeper.
How Honors (+0.5) and AP/IB (+1.0) Weighting Works
The math is straightforward: convert each letter grade to its grade points, add the level bonus, then average across all courses.
Unweighted GPA = Σ grade points ÷ number of courses
Worked example
Say a student finished four courses:
- U.S. History, Honors — A → 4.0 + 0.5 = 4.5
- Biology, AP — B+ → 3.3 + 1.0 = 4.3
- Algebra II, Regular — A− → 3.7 + 0 = 3.7
- Spanish II, Honors — B → 3.0 + 0.5 = 3.5
Unweighted: (4.0 + 3.3 + 3.7 + 3.0) ÷ 4 = 14.0 ÷ 4 = 3.50.
Weighted: (4.5 + 4.3 + 3.7 + 3.5) ÷ 4 = 16.0 ÷ 4 = 4.00.
Notice how the weighted 4.00 tells a fuller story: this student took challenging classes and still landed on an A average once difficulty is rewarded. That is exactly why the two numbers belong side by side.
Example Letter-Grade Scale
The calculator uses this standard scale. One honest caveat, repeated across this site: the letter grade depends on your school’s own scale — these are standard values, and your school’s official grade is what counts on your transcript.
| Letter Grade | Percentage Range | Grade Points |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97–100 | 4.0 |
| A | 93–<97 | 4.0 |
| A− | 90–<93 | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87–<90 | 3.3 |
| B | 83–<87 | 3.0 |
| B− | 80–<83 | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77–<80 | 2.3 |
| C | 73–<77 | 2.0 |
| C− | 70–<73 | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67–<70 | 1.3 |
| D | 63–<67 | 1.0 |
| D− | 60–<63 | 0.7 |
| F | below 60 | 0.0 |
What Is a Good High School GPA?
Context first: “good” depends on where you want to apply, and no calculator can guarantee an outcome. With that said, here are the rough landmarks students usually hear:
- 3.0 and up — a solid B average, the floor for many scholarships and programs.
- 3.5 and up — a strong record that opens most doors.
- 3.75+ unweighted (or 4.0+ weighted) — competitive for selective colleges, assuming the coursework behind it is rigorous.
The number alone never tells the whole story: a 3.6 built on AP and Honors classes often impresses more than a 3.8 built on the easiest courses available. If you want the longer discussion of what counts as “good” by school level, see what counts as a good GPA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the weighted or the unweighted GPA more important?
Both matter, for different reasons. Colleges see your weighted GPA on the transcript, which signals how challenging your course load was. But because schools weight differently, most admissions offices recalculate everyone onto a common scale — often effectively unweighted — before comparing. Keep both numbers in mind and do not panic if they differ.
Do all schools weight Honors and AP the same?
No, and this is the biggest source of confusion. Some schools give Honors +0.5 and AP +1.0 (the standard used here), others weight only AP classes, some use +1.0 for both, and some do not weight at all. Always check your own school’s handbook for the official numbers — this calculator gives you the standard version for planning.
Does my middle school GPA count for college?
Almost never. Colleges look at grades from 9th grade onward (some start at 10th). High-school-level courses taken in 8th grade may appear on your high school transcript depending on your district, but the GPA colleges evaluate is built from your high school years.
Can my GPA go above 4.0?
Yes — but only the weighted GPA. Because AP/IB courses add a full point, straight A’s in a heavy AP schedule can reach 5.0. The unweighted GPA is capped at 4.0 by definition, since it uses plain grade points with no bonuses.
Should I take AP classes just to boost my GPA?
An honest answer: a tougher schedule helps your weighted GPA and shows colleges you challenged yourself, but a low grade in an AP class helps less than a strong grade in Honors. Take AP/IB in subjects you can handle well, and do not overload to the point where grades slip — a B in AP Chemistry beats a stressed C.
Keep Going
If you want the plain one-term version of this tool without course levels, try our plain one-term college-style calculator. Already have a GPA from past terms and want to fold in this semester? Use the cumulative GPA calculator — just enter “already have a GPA from past terms” and it does the rest. You can find every tool in the grade calculators hub.