Combine your GPA so far with this semester's GPA to see your new cumulative GPA.
| Input | Result |
|---|---|
| 3.2 over 60 credits + 3.6 over 15 credits | 3.28 cumulative GPA |
| 3.0 over 30 credits + 4.0 over 30 credits | 3.50 cumulative GPA |
| 2.8 over 90 credits + 3.9 over 12 credits | 2.94 cumulative GPA |
A cumulative GPA is a credit-weighted average of everything you have done, which means its movement shrinks as your transcript grows. The same semester produces wildly different results depending on how many credits sit behind it.
| Credits already earned | GPA so far | New semester | New cumulative GPA | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 (one year) | 3.00 | 4.0 GPA, 15 credits | 3.33 | +0.33 |
| 60 (two years) | 3.00 | 4.0 GPA, 15 credits | 3.20 | +0.20 |
| 90 (three years) | 3.00 | 4.0 GPA, 15 credits | 3.14 | +0.14 |
| 120 (four years) | 3.00 | 4.0 GPA, 15 credits | 3.11 | +0.11 |
By senior year, a perfect semester barely moves the number. This is not a flaw in the system, it is the system working as designed, because a four-year record should not be rewritten by one term. It does mean, though, that GPA repair has to start early to be worth anything, and that the second and third years carry disproportionate weight in the final figure.
Working the other way: what does it take to reach a target from a difficult start?
| Current | Credits completed | Target | Required GPA on the next 60 credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.50 | 60 | 3.00 | 3.50 |
| 2.50 | 90 | 3.00 | 3.83 |
| 2.00 | 30 | 3.00 | 3.65 |
| 2.00 | 60 | 3.00 | 3.75 |
| 3.00 | 90 | 3.50 | 4.00 (needs a perfect run) |
The maths is unforgiving at a distance: pulling a 2.50 up to a 3.00 after 90 credits would require near-perfect work for two more years. That is why students in this position usually look at grade replacement policies instead, see below.
Whether a repeated course removes the old grade is the single biggest lever on a damaged GPA, and policies differ sharply between institutions.
| Policy | What happens to the first attempt | Common at |
|---|---|---|
| Both attempts counted | The old grade stays in the average alongside the new one | Many graduate and professional programmes (LSAC's CAS calc is the strictest well-known example) |
| Grade replacement | The new grade replaces the old entirely; credits counted once | Many US undergraduate institutions, usually with a limit on how many courses and a requirement that the first attempt's credit was not earned |
| Forgiveness / fresh start | An entire term or year excluded on petition | Some US state systems, with strict conditions and a one-time limit |
| Retake only on failure | Passing grades cannot be retaken at all | Many UK and European universities |
Check your registrar's policy before planning a retake. Replacing a C is worth a great deal under replacement rules and almost nothing under both-attempts-counted rules, the same decision with opposite consequences.
Your transcript reports several numbers that are easy to confuse. The term GPA covers one semester only and is what moves fastest. The cumulative GPA is everything, credit-weighted, the number universities quote. The major GPA includes only courses in your major and often sits noticeably above or below your cumulative figure; graduate admissions committees look at both. If you need a term GPA from raw scores rather than a published figure, build it with the GPA calculator first.
Running this across three or more terms? Combine them two at a time: run terms 1 and 2 through the calculator, then enter the result as your "GPA so far" with term 3's figures.
The more credits you already have, the less one semester moves your cumulative GPA, your new credits are weighted against everything before.
Yes, run it in steps: combine terms 1 and 2 first, then feed that result in as your 'GPA so far' with term 3.