There are many ways in which students can be assessed based on the information they have learned in a particular class. Some classes will pass or fail, while others will not be graded at all.
However, most high school and college classes are graded with letter grades from A to F.
Each letter’s grade can be converted to a number and averaged into something called a grade point average (GPA).
Because it’s helpful to understand how your GPA works as you progress through your academic career, this post discusses the different ways GPA is calculated (weighted and unweighted GPA, and cumulative GPA).
What is an Unweighted GPA?
The simplest type of GPA to consider is the unweighted GPA. The unweighted GPA takes into account only the actual grades received in each class. Then convert each letter grade to a number.
A is usually 4 points, B is 3 points, and so on, with slightly higher or lower scores given for positive and negative grades. From there, multiply each grade number by the total number of credits to get your unweighted GPA.
Below is an example of a sample college semester to help you understand the weighted GPA calculation.
class |
# credit |
letter grade |
numerical grade |
Total GPA Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
biology |
3.0 |
a |
4.0 |
12.0 |
arithmetic |
5.0 |
B. |
3.0 |
15.0 |
English |
3.0 |
a- |
3.7 |
11.1 |
religion |
2.0 |
B+ |
3.3 |
6.6 |
psychology |
3.0 |
B- |
2.7 |
8.4 |
total |
16.0 |
|
|
53.1 |
With 53.1 GPS points and a total of 16 credits earned, this student’s GPA for the semester is 3.32. It’s also important to note that the grade you receive is weighted by the total number of credits in each class, even if your GPA is not weighted. It is considered unweighted because it does not adjust the number of GPA points she receives for class difficulty.
What is Weighted GPA?
Unweighted GPAs are common in colleges and other higher education schools, but many high schools choose weighted GPAs. This is because most high schools have different levels of courses and the amount of work can vary significantly. Most high schools have decided that students should not be penalized for taking more difficult classes (and may get lower grades than more foundational classes).
Each school can calculate its weighted GPA in any way it chooses, but one common system is to add 1.0 points to the number earned if you are taking an Advanced Placement (AP) class and add 1.0 points to your score if you are taking an Honors class. Add 0.5 points if you have taken the course. class. If you take standard high school classes, your numerical grades will not change.
Below is an example of a high school semester grade using a weighted GPA and an adjustment of 1.0 / 0.5. APs and honors class.
class |
# credit |
letter grade |
numerical grade |
Total GPA Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
APbiology |
1.0 |
a |
5.0 (+1.0) |
5.0 |
PE |
0.5 |
a |
4.0 |
2.0 |
honor student english |
1.0 |
a- |
4.2 (+0.50) |
4.2 |
AP computer science |
1.0 |
B+ |
4.3 (+1.0) |
4.3 |
Celebrate America’s History |
1.0 |
B. |
3.5 (+0.5) |
3.5 |
Spanish |
1.0 |
a |
4.0 |
4.0 |
total |
5.5 |
|
|
23.0 |
In this example, has 23.0 GPA points and 5.5 credits, and a GPA of 4.18. It is common to see students with GPAs above 4.0 through honors and AP classes. An unweighted GPA generally cannot exceed 4.0.
What is Cumulative GPA?
Another GPA term is Cumulative GPA. Cumulative GPA represents your total GPA over a series of different semesters or semesters and can be weighted or unweighted. To calculate her cumulative GPA, simply add up all of her GPA points she accumulated while attending this particular school and divide it by the total number of credits earned.
It’s also important to note that you can’t simply average your GPA for each semester. Taking a simple average of his GPA each semester does not give an accurate cumulative GPA, as the credits earned each semester may vary. Instead, you should add up his total number of GPA points earned and divide it by the total number of credits earned.
summary
As you can see, most schools calculate your grade point average (GPA) as a way of evaluating your performance in the classes you take, but there are several different forms of GPA. An unweighted GPA does not take into account the difficulty of the class, whereas a weighted GPA may award extra credit for taking advanced classes.
Last but not least, your cumulative GPA represents your performance to date over multiple different semesters or semesters. Doing his best in every class helps keep his GPA high, regardless of the type of GPA calculation used.
Editor: Colin Graves
Reviewed by: Chris Muller
This post, Understanding Weighted GPA, Unweighted GPA and Cumulative GPA, was first published in The College Investor.