Unweighted GPA Calculator

How to Calculate Unweighted GPA

Unweighted GPA equals the sum of all grade point values divided by the total number of courses, with every course AP, Honors, or standard receiving the same grade point value from the 4.0 scale.

1. Enter each course grade using the dropdown. The calculator uses the standard 4.0 values: A/A+=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, B=3.0, and so on.
2. Add all courses from the term using the Add Course button. Include every graded course regardless of difficulty level.
3. Toggle credits on or off using the Credit Hours option in the calculator header if your school tracks credits.
4. Read the result your unweighted GPA on the 4.0 scale appears instantly in the result panel.

Unweighted 4.0 Grade Scale

Every course uses the same grade point values on the unweighted 4.0 scale. The maximum grade point value is 4.0, earned by any A or A+ grade regardless of the course level.

Unweighted GPA: College Admissions, Academic Standing, and What the Numbers Mean

Unweighted GPA is the universal baseline for academic comparison. Colleges, graduate schools, employers, and scholarship programs use unweighted GPA on the 4.0 scale as the standard measure of academic performance. Compare it with your weighted GPA to see the impact of advanced course selection.

Unweighted GPA and College Admissions

College admissions offices standardize all submitted GPAs to unweighted 4.0 scale for comparison. A student applying with a 4.3 weighted GPA from a school that uses 5.0 scale will have that GPA converted to the unweighted equivalent for the admissions pool. The admissions officer also reviews the school profile report a document submitted by the high school that shows the grading scale, average GPA, and course offerings to contextualize the unweighted GPA within the school environment.

A 3.7 unweighted GPA at a school offering 15 AP courses signals a different level of achievement than a 3.7 at a school offering 2 AP courses. Unweighted GPA alone does not tell this story the school profile does.

Unweighted GPA Targets by School Type

Why Unweighted GPA Is Not Always Lower Than Weighted

Students who take mostly standard courses and earn all As will have unweighted GPAs of 4.0 equal to or higher than most weighted GPAs in their class. Weighted GPA can only exceed 4.0 if students take advanced courses. A student with a 3.8 unweighted GPA earned through all standard courses is performing at the same level as a student with a 3.8 unweighted GPA in all AP courses the unweighted scale makes no distinction.

Unweighted GPA for Scholarship Eligibility

Most scholarship programs specify minimum GPA requirements in unweighted terms on the 4.0 scale. The National Merit Scholarship uses Selection Index scores from PSAT/NMSQT rather than GPA, but nearly all state-based merit scholarships (Tennessee HOPE, Georgia HOPE, Florida Bright Futures) use unweighted 4.0 GPA thresholds of 3.0 to 3.7 depending on award tier. Students should verify which GPA scale each scholarship uses before assuming their weighted GPA meets the minimum.

Unweighted GPA and Graduate School Applications

Graduate school admissions use undergraduate GPA, which is credit-weighted and reported on the 4.0 scale functionally an unweighted GPA since no course bonuses apply at the college level. Medical school applicants have their GPAs recalculated by AMCAS using a standardized system. Law school applicants have their GPAs recalculated by LSAC. Both systems use the 4.0 scale without course-level bonuses, which is the college equivalent of the unweighted 4.0 scale.

Worked Example: Unweighted GPA Calculation

A high school junior taking a mix of AP, Honors, and standard courses earns the following grades on the unweighted scale, all courses receive the same grade point values.

Unweighted GPA = 3.60. The AP and Honors labels are irrelevant on the unweighted scale only the letter grade counts. The same student has a weighted GPA of 4.15 when AP and Honors bonuses are applied, showing a 0.55 gap between the two systems.