GPA scale

The 4.0 GPA scale

The 4.0 GPA scale gives each letter grade a fixed number of points: A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0 and F = 0. With plus and minus grades, a minus takes off 0.3 and a plus adds 0.3, so an A− is 3.7 and a B+ is 3.3.^[1] Your GPA is the credit-weighted average of those points, which is why a 4.0 means straight A’s.

The 4.3 and 4.33 scales

A few colleges reward an A+ above an A. Stanford says plainly that it “uses a 4.3 scale”, while Berkeley gives an A+ no more credit than an A.^[2][1] The Law School Admission Council, which recalculates GPAs for law school applicants, converts an A+ to 4.33 and an A− to 3.67.^[3] On these scales a GPA slightly above 4.0 is possible without any weighting.

Weighted GPA scales: 5.0 and 6.0

Weighted GPA scales add bonus points for harder courses. One common pattern adds 0.5 for honors and 1.0 for AP, IB and college courses, so an A in AP is worth 5.0. South Carolina and North Carolina set those exact values statewide.^[4][6] Other systems go further. Broward County Public Schools in Florida keeps a district GPA in which honors adds 1 point and AP, AICE, IB and dual enrollment add 2, so an A in AP counts 6.0, alongside a separate “core” GPA where the same A counts 5.0.^[7]

Numeric GPA scales

Some states convert the numerical average directly to points instead of going through letters. South Carolina’s chart gives a college-prep course (numerical average − 50) ÷ 10 points for averages of 51 to 100, so a 100 is 5.0, a 95 is 4.5 and a 90 is 4.0; honors and AP-level courses add 0.5 and 1.0 on top.^[5] Under that system two A’s can be worth different amounts.

Converting between GPA scales

There is no exact formula for turning one GPA scale into another, because the result depends on which courses were weighted. The reliable method is to recompute from the letter grades. Colleges do exactly that: the University of Georgia recalculates a GPA for every freshman applicant from core courses, noting that schools may report on “a 4.00 scale vs one that is on a 6.00 scale”.^[8] The University of California and the University of Florida each compute their own weighted GPA from your transcript.^[9][10]

• To go from weighted back to 4.0, remove every bonus and recompute: the unweighted GPA calculator does it.
• To see a college’s version, use the UC GPA calculator or the UF GPA calculator.
• For Canadian grades, Ontario’s application centre publishes a table that converts each university’s scale to 4.0.^[11]

From letters to a GPA on any scale

Whatever the scale, the method is the same: grade points × credits, added up and divided by credits. Work through it with how to calculate GPA, or use the GPA calculator, which has settings for plus/minus grades, A+ = 4.3 and honors and AP bonuses. For letters from percentages, see the grading scale.