How is a weighted GPA calculated?

The GPA calculated on your transcript is a weighted GPA. This means that courses marked as Honors, Dual Enrollment, or Advanced Placement (AP) receive extra "weight." Though this can result in a GPA that is higher than 4.0, most colleges accept and even prefer weighted GPAs.

The weighted GPA is calculated this way: Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Enrollment (DE) courses receive an extra 2 grade points. Honors courses receive an extra 1 grade point. So when the grade points are calculated for a single course, you would have to add 2 to that course if it's marked as AP, for example. That would result in a higher, weighted GPA.

The GPA on your transcript is calculated using the following grading scale:

A+ .... 4.33
A ...... 4.00
A- ..... 3.67
B+ .... 3.33
B ...... 3.00
B- ..... 2.67
C+ .... 2.33
C ...... 2.00
C- ..... 1.67
D+ .... 1.33
D ...... 1.00
D- ..... 0.67
F ....... 0
Pass .. 0
Fail ... 0

For each course, the numerical grade (given above) is multiplied by the number of credit hours. This gives the grade points for the course. The grade points are totaled across all courses on the transcript and divided by the total number of credit hours on the transcript to give the GPA.

For example, given a transcript with these courses:

English, B+, 1.00
Algebra, A, 1.00
PE, B, 0.50

The GPA would be calculated as follows:

English grade points = 3.33 * 1.00 = 3.33
Algebra grade points = 4.00 * 1.00 = 4.00
PE grade points = 3.00 * 0.50 = 1.50
Total grade points = 3.33 + 4.00 + 1.50 = 8.83
Total credit hours = 1.00 + 1.00 + 0.50 = 2.50
GPA = 8.83 / 2.50 = 3.53

A weighted GPA would be calculated as follows:

The GPA would be calculated as follows:

AP English grade points = 3.33 * 1.00 = 3.33 +2.00 = 5.33
Honors Algebra grade points = 4.00 * 1.00 = 4.00 +1.00 = 5.00
PE grade points = 3.00 * 0.50 = 1.50
Total grade points = 5.33 + 5.00 + 1.50 = 11.83
Total credit hours = 1.00 + 1.00 + 0.50 = 2.50
GPA = 11.83 / 2.50 = 4.73