Question 1

What is the 4.0 GPA scale?

Accepted Answer

It is the standard US scale that turns letter grades into points: A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, F = 0.0, with + and − steps of 0.3 in between (A− = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, and so on). Your GPA is the credit-weighted average of those points across your courses. The chart on this page prints the whole scale, including the percentage band behind every letter.

Question 2

What is a weighted GPA scale?

Accepted Answer

A weighted scale adds bonus points for harder courses — commonly +0.5 for Honors and +1.0 for AP or IB — so the top of the scale becomes 5.0 instead of 4.0. An A in an AP course is then worth 5.0 points. The catch: every school sets its own bonuses, some weight nothing at all, and many colleges strip the bonuses back out and recalculate an unweighted GPA from your transcript.

Question 3

Can a GPA be higher than 4.0?

Accepted Answer

On the unweighted 4.0 scale, no — 4.0 is the ceiling. A GPA above 4.0 means a weighted scale is in play (Honors/AP bonuses), or a 4.33 scale where an A+ alone counts 4.33. If your report shows 4.4, that number is not comparable with a plain 4.0 from another school until both are put on the same scale.

Question 4

What is the GPA scale in middle school and high school?

Accepted Answer

The same 4.0 scale printed here — the letters and points do not change. What changes is weighting: high schools are far more likely to run weighted scales for Honors and AP courses, while middle schools usually report the plain unweighted number. Colleges reading a high-school transcript look at both, and often recalculate the unweighted figure themselves.

Question 5

Why do some schools use a 4.33 scale?

Accepted Answer

To separate the very top: on a 4.33 scale an A+ counts 4.33 while an A stays 4.0, so a student with A+ grades ranks above one with plain A's. Every other letter keeps its standard value. If your GPA maths keeps coming out a few hundredths higher than the calculator's, this is the first difference to check.

Question 6

Which GPA scale do colleges use?

Accepted Answer

Most report admission averages on the 4.0 unweighted scale, whatever scale the high school used — many admissions offices recalculate transcripts onto it. That is why the unweighted number is the safer one to compare yourself with, and why this site shows weighted and unweighted figures side by side wherever weighting applies.

Letter grade	GPA points	Percentage
A+	4.0	97–100
A	4.0	93–96
A-	3.7	90–92
B+	3.3	87–89
B	3.0	83–86
B-	2.7	80–82
C+	2.3	77–79
C	2.0	73–76
C-	1.7	70–72
D+	1.3	67–69
D	1.0	63–66
D-	0.7	60–62
F	0.0	Below 60

Letter grade	Percentage	GPA points
A	93–100	4.0
A-	90–92	3.7
B+	87–89	3.3
B	83–86	3.0
B-	80–82	2.7
C+	77–79	2.3
C	73–76	2.0
C-	70–72	1.7
D+	67–69	1.3
D	65–66	1.0
F	below 65	0.0

GPA Scale & Grade Chart

The standard 4.0 scale

The weighted 5.0 scale

The converter table

Frequently asked questions

All grade & GPA calculators