Colleges use the grade point average (GPA) to evaluate the rigor of your courses taken in high school. This standardised calculation helps in comparison to peers across the country applying to colleges in the admissions process. However, since each school calculates GPAs in a different manner, it is important to understand where your grades stand in comparison to the other students. Many schools calculate GPAs differently, so it can be difficult to understand where you fall in comparison to other candidates. To further complicate manners, sometimes even the colleges have their own individual calculation process to achieve at this standardized number.
For instance, here is the link to University of Georgia (UGA) GPA calculator.
How to Use the GPA Calculator
1. Enter the letter grade and credit hours you have earned or expect to earn from each class in a given semester
2. Click Calculate to calculate your semester GPA
3. Use + Semester to add all additional semesters and calculate your cumulative GPA
Grade
In the field labeled Grade, enter the letter grade that you have earned or expect to earn from a given class (e.g. A+, A, A-, B+, etc.).
Credits/Hours
Enter the total number of credit hours that your class is worth in the Credits/Hours field. A typical class is 3 credit hours, but there are a lot of variations. If you aren’t sure how many credit hours your class is worth, check the course syllabus or your school’s course catalog.
What is the difference between semester and cumulative GPA?
Your semester GPA is the grade point average that you earned for a single semester, so it is the numerical weighted average of your class grades. Your cumulative grade point average is the numerical weighted average of the grades you’ve earned over your entire college career.
How are grade points measured?
Grade points are calculated using your letter grade on a conversion scale. For instance, at most schools an A+ grade equals 4.0 grade points while a B- grade equals 2.7 grade points. The weighted average of these numbers gives us your GPA.
The CollegeVine blogpost covering the breakdown of this calculation is also a wonderful read to help understand the math behind this process to hopefully simplify it for you further. There is also additional information here on the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA as well to browse through.
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