ScanSpotGPA Calculator
Credit-weighted, with the unweighted mean beside it and a cumulative that blends by credits instead of averaging two GPAs.
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🎓 GPA Calculator
Credit-weighted GPA, the unweighted mean next to it so you can see what the weighting did, and a cumulative figure that blends a prior record by credits instead of averaging two GPAs. Every grade point is on screen, so the 4.0-versus-4.3 question is a decision you can see rather than one taken for you.
Prior record (optional)
Credit values are the weights. A+ is the one letter whose value depends on your school, so the scale is a choice above the table and every grade point is written into the dropdown.
A GPA is a weighted average, and almost everything that goes wrong with one goes wrong in the weighting. Two students with the same grades get different GPAs if their courses carry different credits; the same student gets a different cumulative GPA depending on whether the new term is blended by credits or averaged with the old one. This calculator does the weighting in the open: credits are an input for every course, the unweighted mean sits beside the real figure so you can see what the weighting did, and a prior record is blended by credits rather than averaged.
How to use the GPA Calculator
- Enter each course with the credits it carries and the grade you got. The credits are on your transcript, and they matter: a three-credit course pulls the GPA three times as hard as a one-credit seminar.
- Pick the scale your school uses. A+ is the only letter whose value is not settled — some schools cap it at 4.0, others give 4.3 — so both tables exist and the grade points are written into the dropdown you are choosing from.
- For a cumulative GPA, add the GPA you already have and the credits behind it. The figure blends the two records by credits; where that disagrees with averaging the two GPAs, both numbers are shown.
Why people use it
- Credits are weights, and the unweighted mean is the wrong answer people arrive at first. Averaging the letters treats a four-credit lab and a one-credit seminar as equals — a different claim about the same transcript. Both numbers are on the screen, labelled, because the unweighted one is what most people compute in their head, and the gap between them is the thing worth seeing.
- A cumulative GPA is not the average of two GPAs. 4.0 across 100 credits followed by 3.59 across 9 is 3.97, not 3.79: the prior record is most of the transcript and has to count most of the way. Averaging the two figures gives the new term roughly thirteen times the weight it earned, and the error survives because the answer still looks like a GPA.
- A+ is a real ambiguity, not a rounding detail. Some schools cap it at 4.0 so that nobody can exceed a perfect average; others let it count 4.3, which is how a 4.2 GPA exists at all. A calculator that picks one silently is wrong for half its readers, so the scale is a control above the table and every grade point is printed in the list.
Frequently asked questions
Why are there two numbers at the top?
The first is the credit-weighted GPA — what a transcript reports. The second treats every course as equal in weight, which is what you get by averaging the letters in your head. They agree only when every course carries the same credits, which is rare. Showing both means you can see the effect of the weighting instead of being asked to trust it.
Which A+ value should I choose?
Whichever your school uses. It is usually on the transcript legend, and if it is not, the registrar's office will say. Many US schools cap A+ at 4.0, some give 4.3, and a few run a scale that tops out higher. This page covers the two common four-point scales exactly; for anything else, the grade points printed in the dropdown tell you what it is assuming, which is the number you need in order to convert.
Does a pass/fail course count?
It usually counts toward credits but not toward the GPA, which is why it has no row here: every row needs a grade point, and pass/fail has none. Enter the graded courses only, then compare the credit total on screen with the one on your transcript — if they match, nothing is missing.
Why is my cumulative GPA different from what the portal says?
Three usual reasons: the portal includes transfer credits you did not enter, it counts a repeated course once with the better grade, or it uses a different A+ value. The arithmetic here is the plain credit-weighted average of exactly what you typed, so when the inputs match the portal the answers should match too. When they do not, the difference is in the inputs or in the policy, not in the multiplication.