Your unweighted GPA is usually available in your school’s online student portal, but if it’s not listed there, you can calculate it yourself using the standard 4.0 scale. Many schools display both weighted and unweighted GPAs, while others show only one. Here’s how to find yours or figure it out on your own.
Check Your School’s Student Portal
The fastest way to see your unweighted GPA is to log into whatever student information system your school uses. Most high schools and colleges use platforms like PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Skyward, or similar systems. Look for a section labeled “Grades,” “Academics,” or “Transcript.” Your cumulative unweighted GPA is typically listed alongside your weighted GPA, though some schools only display one or the other.
If your school uses Naviance for college planning, unweighted GPA is the default display in tools like Scattergrams and College Match. Schools that import both weighted and unweighted GPAs can switch which one appears by default, so what you see in Naviance may differ from what’s on your official transcript. When in doubt, check both your main student portal and Naviance separately.
If you can’t find an unweighted GPA listed anywhere online, ask your school counselor for an unofficial transcript. The transcript will typically show your cumulative GPA and specify whether it’s weighted or unweighted. Some schools genuinely only calculate a weighted GPA, in which case you’ll need to do the math yourself.
Calculate It Yourself on the 4.0 Scale
An unweighted GPA treats every class the same, whether it’s a standard course, honors, or AP. No bonus points for harder classes. You just convert each letter grade to its point value on the 4.0 scale:
- A (90–100): 4.0
- B (80–89): 3.0
- C (70–79): 2.0
- D (66–69): 1.0
- E/F (below 65): 0.0
Some schools use plus and minus grades, which shift the value slightly. An A- is typically 3.7, a B+ is 3.3, a B- is 2.7, and so on. If your school uses straight letter grades without pluses or minuses, stick with the whole numbers above.
To get your GPA, add up the grade points for every class, then divide by the total number of classes. For example, if you’ve taken six classes and earned grades of A, A, B, A, C, and B, that’s 4.0 + 4.0 + 3.0 + 4.0 + 2.0 + 3.0 = 20.0. Divide 20.0 by 6, and your unweighted GPA is 3.33.
Adjusting for Credit Hours
If your classes carry different amounts of credit (a lab science counting for 1.5 credits while a study hall or elective counts for 0.5), you’ll want a credit-weighted calculation. Multiply each grade’s point value by the number of credits that class is worth, add those products together, then divide by total credits rather than total classes.
Say you earned an A in a 1-credit English class and a B in a 0.5-credit elective. That’s (4.0 × 1) + (3.0 × 0.5) = 5.5, divided by 1.5 total credits, giving you a 3.67. This method matches what most schools use internally and will give you a more accurate number than simply averaging letter grades.
What Counts in Your Cumulative GPA
Your cumulative unweighted GPA includes every graded course from every semester of high school, starting with freshman year. Most schools exclude pass/fail courses and study halls. If you retook a class, your school may replace the old grade with the new one or average both. Check your transcript to see which grades are actually factored in.
Semester grades (not quarter or trimester grades) are what typically feed into the cumulative number. If your transcript lists both, use the semester or final grades for each course when calculating by hand.
Unweighted GPA on College Applications
If you’re filling out the Common App and your school calculates both a weighted and unweighted GPA, the Common App instructs you to report the weighted value. If your school only provides an unweighted GPA, report that one instead. The GPA field on the Common App isn’t required for submission, so if your school uses an unusual scale or doesn’t calculate a cumulative GPA at all, you can leave it blank and explain in the Additional Information section.
Colleges receive your official transcript directly from your school, and admissions offices know how to read both weighted and unweighted GPAs in context. They also see which courses you took, so an unweighted 3.5 earned in a schedule full of AP classes tells a different story than a 3.5 from standard-level courses. Your self-reported number is a starting point, not the final word.