GPA Calculator

Your GPA (Grade Point Average) is a weighted average, and the weight is credit hours. A single B in a 4-credit core subject affects your standing far more than a B in a 1-credit elective — this calculator makes that weighting explicit instead of letting a raw letter-to-number average mislead you.

The formula

GPA = Σ (grade points × credits) ÷ Σ credits

Each course contributes its grade points scaled by its credits; the total is divided by the credits attempted. That is why a "3.5 average" derived from simple letter conversion is almost always wrong — grades must be weighted by credits before averaging.

Grade points on the 4.0 scale

Worked example

Four courses, all 3 credits: A, B+, A-, B.

Total points = 4×3 + 3.3×3 + 3.7×3 + 3×3 = 42.0
Total credits = 12
GPA = 42.0 ÷ 12 = 3.5

Here the unweighted letter average happens to be the same (4.0 + 3.3 + 3.7 + 3.0 ÷ 4 = 3.5) only because every course carries equal credits. Introduce a 4-credit and a 1-credit course and the two answers diverge dramatically.

Why credits change everything

Shift a grade's weight and the GPA moves visibly:

(4.0 × 4) + (3.0 × 1) = 19.0 points ÷ 5 credits = 3.80
(4.0 × 1) + (3.0 × 4) = 16.0 points ÷ 5 credits = 3.20

Same two grades, opposite weights — a full 0.6 GPA swing. When planning a semester, target your strongest performance in the high-credit courses; they move the needle most.

The Indian 10-point (CGPA) scale

Indian universities run identical math on a 10-point ladder: O = 10, A+ = 9, A = 8, B+ = 7 and so on. Only the point values change. Many institutions translate CGPA to a rough percentage with CGPA × 9.5, but that multiplier is an informal convention, not a law — some universities officially adopt × 10 or publish their own table entirely. For a quick conversion on the simpler rules, see the SGPA to percentage calculator; for a decision that matters, consult your institution's official grading policy.

Practical notes

• Zero-credit or failed courses — set credits to 0 to exclude a course, mirroring how colleges treat audit coursework.
• Retakes — policies vary between averaging and replacing the old grade; a replaced F near the start of a transcript lifts the GPA sharply.
• Plus/minus systems — not every college awards A- or B+ distinctions; confirm your institution's scale before trusting the conversion.
• Semester vs cumulative — GPA is usually per term, CGPA across terms; don't report one as the other.

Common mistakes

• Averaging letter grades before weighting by credits — inflated and wrong on mixed-credit schedules.
• Counting pass/fail and audit courses that carry no grade points.
• Applying a single "× 9.5" conversion to a US 4.0-scale GPA, where the defensible relationship is entirely different.
• Treating a D as worth more than zero just because "it was earned" — many strict policies count it, but at 1.0 it drags hard.

This calculator accepts up to five courses with credits on either the 4.0 or 10-point scale and shows the per-course breakdown, so you can see exactly which course is hurting (or helping) the average.