What is weighted GPA?
Weighted GPA is a way to give the level of class a greater “weight” towards your GPA. The standard way to calculate GPA is to give every grade you have equal
How is GPA Calculated?
GPA, which stands for grade point average, is calculated by taking the average of grade points based on the credits and grade of the classes.
A grade point is a numerical value in which is determined by multiplying the number of credits of a class by the number of points that relate to a specific letter grade.
Standard GPA is calculate by assigning the following points for each grade.
| Letter Grade | Standard Points |
| A+ | 4.3 |
| A | 4.0 |
| A- | 3.7 |
| B+ | 3.3 |
| B | 3.0 |
| B- | 2.7 |
| C+ | 2.3 |
| C | 2.0 |
| C- | 1.7 |
| D+ | 1.3 |
| D | 1.0 |
| D- | 0.7 |
| F | 0 |
So to determine the number of grade points for each class, you would take the number of credits and multiply by the corresponding point listed above.
For example, you take an English class which has 3 credits and you get a grade of A-. This would mean the class would give you a grade point of 3*3.7 which is 11.1 points.
Then to calculate the grade point average, you would add up all the classes you would like to calculate the grade point average across then divide by the total number of credits.
Here’s an example:
- English, 3 credits, A-
- Math, 3 credits, B+
- Science, 3 credits B
- Social Studies, 3 credits, A
- Health, 1.5 credits, A
This would yield grade points of:
- 3*3.7 = 11.1 grade points for english
- 3*3.3 = 9.9 grade points for math
- 3*3.0 = 9 grade points for science
- 3*4.0 = 12 grade points for social studies
- 1.5*4.0 = 6 grade points for social studies
The total grade points for this semester would be: 11.1 + 9.9 + 9 + 12 + 6 = 48 grade points.
Then divide the total grade points by the total number of credits which is (3+3+3+3+1.5) 13.5 credits.
This yields a grade point average of 48/13.5 = 3.55
How to calculate weighted GPA
Now that you understand how to calculate standard GPA, the process is exactly the same EXCEPT there are different points for different class levels. For high school GPA’s it is common to have a standard (level 2) class, an honors class (level 1), and an AP class.
The points the coincide with the grades for each level are normally represented with the points below.
| Letter Grade | Standard Points | Honors Points | AP Points |
| A+ | 4.3 | 4.8 | 5.3 |
| A | 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| A- | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
| B+ | 3.3 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| B | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| B- | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.7 |
| C+ | 2.3 | 2.8 | 3.3 |
| C | 2.0 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
| C- | 1.7 | 2.2 | 2.7 |
| D+ | 1.3 | 1.8 | 2.3 |
| D | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 |
| D- | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.7 |
| F | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Let’s go through an example. Lets use the same classes as above, but change the level of some of the classes.
- AP English, 3 credits, A-
- Standard Math, 3 credits, B+
- Honors Science, 3 credits B
- Standard Social Studies, 3 credits, A
- Health, 1.5 credits, A
This would yield grade points of:
- 3*4.7 = 14.1 grade points for english
- 3*3.3 = 9.9 grade points for math
- 3*3.5 = 10.5 grade points for science
- 3*4.0 = 12 grade points for social studies
- 1.5*4.0 = 6 grade points for social studies
The total grade points for this semester would be: 14.1 + 9.9 + 10.5 + 12 + 6 = 52.5 grade points.
Then divide the total grade points by the total number of credits which is (3+3+3+3+1.5) 13.5 credits.
This yields a grade point average of 52.5/13.5 = 3.88
So as you can see here from this example, when we take into account the grades from the higher levels classes, they have a greater weight