Standard US 4.0 GPA scale: every letter grade with its percentage range and grade point value, including plus/minus.
Most US schools convert letter grades to grade points on the 4.0 scale to compute GPA. Multiply each course's grade point value by its credits, add them up, and divide by total credits, the GPA calculator does this for you.
| Letter | Percentage | Grade points |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97–100% | 4.0 |
| A | 93–96% | 4.0 |
| A− | 90–92% | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87–89% | 3.3 |
| B | 83–86% | 3.0 |
| B− | 80–82% | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77–79% | 2.3 |
| C | 73–76% | 2.0 |
| C− | 70–72% | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67–69% | 1.3 |
| D | 63–66% | 1.0 |
| D− | 60–62% | 0.7 |
| F | below 60% | 0.0 |
Schools differ on plus/minus values and whether A+ counts above 4.0, always confirm with your registrar. On a plain (no plus/minus) scale: A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, F = 0.
The scale is only the first half of the calculation. A GPA is a credit-weighted average of the grade points above, so the credit hours attached to each course decide how much that course's letter grade moves your number.
| Course | Letter | Points | Credits | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organic Chemistry | B | 3.0 | 4 | 12.0 |
| Calculus II | A− | 3.7 | 4 | 14.8 |
| Technical Writing | A | 4.0 | 3 | 12.0 |
| Statistics | B+ | 3.3 | 3 | 9.9 |
| Physical Education | A | 4.0 | 1 | 4.0 |
| Total | — | — | 15 | 52.7 |
52.7 ÷ 15 = 3.51 GPA. Note what the PE grade did: an A that pulled the average up by only a hair, because one credit is a small weight. Meanwhile the B in a four-credit chemistry course cost more than the A in PE gained. This is the mechanism people mean when they say some courses "count more", nothing is being weighted by hand, the credits do it automatically.
| Question | Practice A | Practice B | Consequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is an A+ worth? | 4.0 | 4.3 (some high schools) | A student with mostly A+ can exceed 4.0 |
| A− value | 3.7 (decimal) | 3.67 (thirds of a point) | Small but cumulative drift over many courses |
| Are minus grades used at all? | Yes | No, many schools collapse A/A− into one band | Removes an entire step from the scale |
| Is a D a passing grade? | Yes, 1.0 points | No credit for major courses | Affects prerequisite progress, not just GPA |
| Do failing grades stay in the GPA? | Yes | Excluded once retaken | Can move a GPA by tenths of a point |
The differences look small one at a time, but they compound over 40 courses. Always use the value table your own registrar publishes rather than a generic one, and if you are applying to a graduate programme that recalculates GPAs, expect them to apply their own scale to your transcript.
On an unweighted scale, the ceiling is 4.0 no matter how hard your courses are. That creates an obvious problem: a student taking four Advanced Placement courses and a student taking four standard courses, both earning A, would look identical. The weighted GPA solves it by adding a bonus for course rigour, commonly +0.5 or +1.0 per honours or AP/IB course, which is why high schools sometimes report GPAs above 4.0.
| Course level | Letter | Unweighted | Weighted (+1.0) | Weighted (+0.5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP / IB / Honours | A | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| AP / IB / Honours | B | 3.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Standard | A | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Standard | B | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Because there is no single standard bonus, weighted GPAs are not comparable between schools, which is exactly why universities either ask for the unweighted figure, ask for the school profile alongside it, or recalculate using their own formula. When a college says it wants "a 3.5 GPA" it almost always means unweighted unless it states otherwise. Several systems apply a cap: the University of California, for instance, counts honours bonuses only up to eight semesters' worth of points, giving a maximum weighted-and-capped GPA of 4.40. That specific case has its own UC GPA calculator.
If your transcript comes from outside the US, the number you have is probably not on this scale at all, and dividing it by something will not fix that. The scales differ in range, direction and meaning:
| System | Scale | Direction | Conversion page |
|---|---|---|---|
| India (CGPA) | 0–10 | Higher is better | CGPA to percentage |
| Philippines (GWA) | 1.00–5.00 | Lower is better | GWA calculator |
| Germany | 1–6 | Lower is better | German grade calculator |
| United Kingdom | Degree classification | Not numeric | UK degree classification |
| Bangladesh (HSC/SSC) | 0–5 | Higher is better | HSC GPA calculator |
Note the two scales that run backwards. A Philippine GWA of 1.75 means a strong student and would sit near the top of this 4.0 table; a GPA of 1.75 would be failing. Reading a foreign transcript with a US frame of reference, or the reverse, is the most common and most damaging error in this whole area. If your institution is on the list, use its dedicated calculator rather than improvising a conversion.