An A- is worth 3.7 on the standard 4.0 GPA scale. Whether your school records it as exactly 3.7 or 3.67 depends on the specific scale your institution uses, but both values are common and functionally equivalent for most purposes.
How the 4.0 Scale Works
The most widely used GPA system in the United States assigns a number to each letter grade. An A is worth 4.0, an A- drops to 3.7, a B+ is 3.3, a B is 3.0, and so on, with each plus or minus shifting the value by roughly 0.3 points. Schools that don’t use plus/minus grading simply assign 4.0 to any grade in the A range.
Some institutions use a slightly more precise figure of 3.67 for an A-. Wesleyan University, for example, lists the A- at 3.67 on both its 4.0 and 4.3 scales. The difference between 3.7 and 3.67 is negligible in practice, but if you’re calculating your own GPA, use the exact value your school publishes in its course catalog or registrar’s page.
A- in Weighted GPA Systems
Many high schools use a weighted GPA scale that adds extra points for honors, AP, or IB courses. In a typical weighted system, the base value of each grade gets bumped up by 0.5 points for honors classes and 1.0 point for AP or IB classes. That means an A- in a regular course stays at 3.7, but an A- in an honors course becomes roughly 4.2, and an A- in an AP course becomes roughly 4.7. This is why some students carry GPAs above 4.0.
Weighted scales vary from school to school. Some add a full point for honors courses rather than half a point, and some cap the scale at 5.0 while others go higher. Check your school’s specific weighting policy if you need an exact number.
What Percentage Earns an A-
The percentage range that corresponds to an A- differs by institution. The most common cutoff is 90 to 92 percent, though some schools set the floor at 90 and the ceiling at 93. Others define it differently. Loyola Law School, for instance, maps 85 to 87 percent to an A-. There is no universal standard, so the percentage thresholds your school uses are the only ones that matter for your transcript.
How an A- Affects Your GPA
Your GPA is the weighted average of all your course grades, with each course’s credit hours factoring into the calculation. To see how a single A- changes your overall number, multiply 3.7 by the number of credits for that course, then add the result to the sum of all your other grade points. Divide the total by your overall credit hours.
For example, if you have 45 credit hours with a cumulative 3.5 GPA (157.5 total grade points) and earn an A- in a 3-credit course, you add 11.1 grade points (3.7 times 3). Your new GPA would be 168.6 divided by 48, which comes out to about 3.51. A single A- in one course won’t dramatically move your GPA in either direction once you’ve completed several semesters of work.
If you’re early in your academic career with fewer credits on your transcript, each grade carries more weight. A freshman with only 12 credits will see a bigger GPA shift from one A- than a senior with 100 credits.
A- for College Admissions
A 3.7 is a strong GPA by any standard. It signals consistent performance in the A range and falls within the typical GPA bands for admitted students at many selective colleges. Admissions offices also look at the rigor of your coursework, so an A- in an AP class often carries more weight than a straight A in a less demanding one. Many schools recalculate your GPA using their own internal scale anyway, so the number on your transcript may not be the exact number an admissions committee evaluates.