How to Calculate GPA
Understand the 4.0 scale, credit-weighting, weighted vs unweighted GPA, and work through a complete semester example from scratch.
- GPA formula
- 4.0 scale
- Weighted GPA
- Credit hours
Grade & GPA Guides
In-depth how-to guides for understanding GPA, grade calculations, and academic planning. Each article is written by the Gradeculator team and kept up to date — last updated June 2026.
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How to Calculate a Weighted Average Grade
Learn how category weights work in course grading, why weights don't need to sum to 100%, and how to track your grade mid-semester with incomplete data.
- Category weights
- Semester grade
- Mid-semester tracking
- Points vs weighted
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How to Raise Your GPA
The real math behind GPA improvement — how much a semester of As actually moves your cumulative GPA, and which strategies (grade replacement, withdrawal timing, credit load) produce the biggest gains.
- Grade replacement
- Strategic withdrawal
- Cumulative GPA
- Recovery strategies
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Understanding Letter Grades and GPA
A complete reference for letter-to-percent-to-GPA conversions, why different schools set different cutoffs, what plus/minus grades mean numerically, and how to convert between all three systems.
- Letter grades
- Plus/minus scale
- GPA conversions
- School grading policies
Jump to a Calculator
These guides pair with Gradeculator's free tools. Use the guides to understand the concepts, then use the calculators to run your actual numbers.