Your grade point average (GPA) is the sum of all your course grades throughout your high school career divided by the total number of credits. Most high schools (and colleges) report grades on a 4.0 scale. The top grade, an A, equals a 4.0.
Why is a Good GPA Important?
We receive data from schools every year, and from that we know there are two factors that weigh most heavily in college admission:
The answer to thisdepends on where you want to go to college. Check out the GPA ranges for accepted students to the schools on your wishlist, and see how your grades compare. Use our college search to research schools that interest you or grab a copy of ourbook Best 384 Colleges to help you find your best-fit school.
Colleges will also consider the rigor of your high school schedule . Did you take Honors and AP courses when they were available? Were you enrolled in your high school’s IB program? Besides doing well inthecourses you took, colleges want to see that you are challenging yourself academically.
GPA Scale
Since GPA is so important, here's a simple chart that shows how to convert your letter grades to the 4.0 scale
An unweighted GPA is the average of all your grades on the 4.0 scale above.
Some high schools use a weighted GPA scale, which gives more points (greater "weight") to grades in accelerated courses like Honors Biology or AP French. So, while a B might normally equal a 3.0, a B in an AP class would be more like a 3.3 on a weighted scale.
Your GPA will help you get in, but in these budget-tight times, great grades can also translate directly into dollars and cents. As Kal Chaneyattests in our book Paying for College , “Every tenth of a point a student raises her high school GPA can save her thousands of dollars in student loans she won’t have to pay back later.”
Even at schools where students are awarded aid based only on their financial need , applicants with high academic achievement get preferential packaging. (Their award packages have a higher percentage of grants and a lower percentage of loans.) Some colleges offer full scholarships for great GPAs. There are other schools (more and more in recent years) that give out large merit-based grants,regardlessof need. These grants are not necessarily just for 4.0 students, either! We know of several colleges that award merit-based grants for students with B averages.
Get Your Grades Up—and Keep Them That Way!
Senioritis is real, but colleges keep an eye on your grades even after you’re accepted. So don't think you can let your grades sink once that acceptance letter hits your mailbox! Plus, if you were waitlisted for your dream school, keeping your GPA up could boost your chances of getting off of it .
Test Your College Knowledge
How well do you understand the college admissions process? Find out with our quiz.
Your GPA is the mean of your grades, meaning that you add the grade points together and divide them by the number of grades. Keep in mind that some schools calculate GPA a bit differently, and some also count advanced placement or honors classes as a higher number.
When you fail a course, the grade you receive is often an F, which carries no grade points. As a result, failing a course can significantly lower your GPA, especially if it is worth several credits. For example, if you have a 3.5 GPA and fail a 4-credit course, your GPA will drop to 3.08.
If you take a course that concludes with a Pass or Fail grade, it will get factored into any GPA calculations. Credit hours are earned but your GPA is not affected.
An F is 0 points. Your GPA is the sum of all the grade points you've earned, divided by the number of classes you've taken. If this is the first F grade you've received and you've maintained a 4.0 GPA until now, your new GPA will depend on the total number of classes you've taken so far.
Is a 3.0 GPA good? A 3.0 unweighted GPA means that you've earned a B average across all of your classes. This is the national average GPA for high school students, but it may be slightly lower than the average GPA of high school students who plan on attending college.
First add up the total hours attempted and total grade points earned... For Example: Credit. Hours. Grade. Grade. Points. 4 hours. x. A (4.0) = 16.0. 3 hours. x. ...
Then divide the total grade points by the overall hours. 35.9/12 = 2.99 GPA. The formulas: GPA X Hours = Grade Points. Grade Points / attempted Hours = GPA.
Will a single 'B' ruin my 4.0 GPA? A single 'B' can lower your GPA from a perfect 4.0, but the impact depends on the number of classes you have taken and their credit hours. However, a strong overall academic record with one 'B' is still highly regarded.
Is a 2.9 GPA good? A 2.9 GPA means that you've earned mainly Bs in all of your classes. This GPA is slightly below the 3.0 national average GPA for high school students, so it will limit the range of colleges where you can expect to be accepted. 7.97% of schools have an average GPA below a 2.9.
The failing grade will NOT calculate in your GPA, but it will still show on your transcript. On your transcript, an "E" will show to the right of your failing grade to mark the course as "Excluded". On your transcript, an "I" will show to the right of the second time you took the class, marking it as "Included".
You must meet with a counselor to determine if you are eligible to pursue forgiveness for failed courses. If a grade is forgiven it is removed from the GPA, but it will still remain on your transcript.
To calculate your GPA, divide the total number of grade points earned by the total number of letter graded units undertaken. For each unit of credit the following grade points are earned: A+ = 4. A = 4.
Your grade point average (GPA) is the sum of all your course grades throughout your high school career divided by the total number of credits. Most high schools (and colleges) report grades on a 4.0 scale. The top grade, an A, equals a 4.0.
In order to convert percentage into GPA, you must use the basic formula of dividing your percentage by 100 and then multiplying the result by 4. For instance, if your percentage is 90%, then your GPA will be (90/100) * 4 = 3.6 GPA. In simple words, GPA = (Percentage/100) * 4.
To figure the GPA for this term, first multiply the number of credit hours for each course times the numerical value of the grade (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0, WF=0). This will gives the quality points for each course. Then divide the total number of credit hours (14) into the total number of quality points (42).
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