High School GPA Calculator (Weighted and Unweighted)

Free high school GPA calculator: get weighted and unweighted GPA side by side. Adds +0.5 for Honors and +1.0 for AP/IB, so an A in AP scores 5.0.

Enter your courses above — name, letter grade, credits, and whether each one is Regular, Honors, or AP/IB — and the calculator returns two numbers side by side: your unweighted GPA on the 4.0 scale, and your weighted GPA with the standard bumps applied (+0.5 for Honors, +1.0 for AP or IB, so an A in AP counts as 5.0). You need both. Your school probably reports one of them, applications sometimes ask for the other, and many admissions offices recalculate your GPA from scratch on their own scale regardless of what your transcript says. Seeing the two figures together tells you which conversation you’re actually in. One honest caveat before you start: weighting is set by your individual high school or district, and there is no national standard. This tool estimates using the most common scale. Your registrar’s scale is the one that officially governs your transcript, and your counselor can confirm it in about two minutes.

Do colleges look at weighted or unweighted GPA?

Most look at both, and many recalculate their own version. Admissions offices commonly strip the weighting and rebuild your GPA on an unweighted 4.0 scale so that applicants from different high schools compare fairly, then score course rigor as a separate factor. The University of Michigan, for example, converts all 9th- through 11th-grade classes to an unweighted 4.0 and counts A+, A, and A- alike. Practice varies by college, so check each school’s admissions page.

Calculate Now

High School GPA Calculator

Unweighted GPA
3.50
caps at 4.00
Weighted GPA
3.88
can exceed 4.00
Total Credits
4
Weighting Gained
+0.38
ℹ️ Weighted adds +0.5 for Honors and +1.0 for AP/IB on passing grades. Schools set their own bumps — some use a 6.0 scale, some don’t weight at all.
ℹ️ Many colleges recalculate GPA on their own scale, often stripping weighting and counting only academic courses, so treat both numbers as estimates.

Key Information

ParameterDetails
Unweighted 4.0 ScaleA = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, F = 0
Honors Bump (standard)+0.5 — an A in Honors = 4.5
AP / IB Bump (standard)+1.0 — an A in AP or IB = 5.0
Worked Example Result3.60 unweighted vs 4.20 weighted

Frequently Asked Questions

Do colleges look at weighted or unweighted GPA?

Most look at both, and many recalculate their own version. Admissions offices commonly strip the weighting and rebuild your GPA on an unweighted 4.0 scale so that applicants from different high schools compare fairly, then score course rigor as a separate factor. The University of Michigan, for example, converts all 9th- through 11th-grade classes to an unweighted 4.0 and counts A+, A, and A- alike. Practice varies by college, so check each school’s admissions page.

Is a 4.2 GPA good?

A 4.2 is a weighted GPA, and it means you are earning strong grades in Honors, AP, or IB courses — on the standard 4.0 scale, nothing above 4.0 is reachable without a weight bump. Its unweighted equivalent usually lands somewhere around 3.5 to 3.8, depending on how many advanced classes you carry. Because school scales differ, a 4.2 on a 5.0-scale school and a 4.2 on a 6.0-scale school are not the same achievement.

How much does one AP class raise my GPA?

Less than most students expect. On the standard +1.0 scale, one AP course in a five-course semester adds 1.0 grade point spread across 5 credits, which is 0.20 on your weighted GPA, assuming the same letter grade. In a six-course load it is about 0.17. It does nothing at all to your unweighted GPA, which caps at 4.0 on the standard scale. The calculator above shows the exact change when you switch a row’s course type.

Are these calculators free to use?

Yes, all calculators on CalcCorp are completely free — no registration, no login, no hidden charges. Results are calculated instantly in your browser and we do not store any of your data.

How accurate are these calculations?

Our calculators use standard financial formulas updated with the latest tax rates, interest rates, and government policies for 2026. Results are accurate for planning purposes but should be verified with a professional for final decisions.

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Last updated: March 2026