Can a weighted GPA be above 4.0?

Yes — that is the point of it. With AP or IB classes worth up to 5.0, a schedule of straight A's in all-AP classes is a 5.00 weighted and a 4.00 unweighted.

Which one do colleges look at?

Usually both, and then their own. Admissions offices know weighting schemes differ between schools, so many recalculate every applicant on a single unweighted scale and look at course difficulty separately.

How many credits is a class?

Most high schools count a full-year class as 1 credit and a one-semester class as 0.5. If every class on your transcript is worth the same, the credits cancel out and you can leave them all at 1.

Weighted GPA Calculator (High School)

Honors and AP bonus points, with the unweighted figure.

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Formula

Weighted GPA = Σ((grade points + level bonus) × credits) ÷ Σ credits, where the bonus is 0.5 for Honors and 1.0 for AP or IB

A weighted GPA rewards harder classes by adding a bonus to the grade points before averaging: half a point for an Honors class and a full point for AP or IB, so an A in an AP class is worth 5.0 instead of 4.0. A failing grade earns no bonus. The unweighted GPA is the same average with every bonus removed, and is shown alongside because many colleges recalculate it.

Worked example

An A in an AP class counts 5.0, a B+ in Honors 3.8, and a regular A− and B count 3.7 and 3.0. That is 15.5 points over 4 credits: a weighted GPA of 3.88. Without the bonuses the same grades total 14.0, an unweighted 3.50.

Where this can give the wrong answer

There is no national weighting rule. Honors +0.5 and AP/IB +1.0 is the most widely published scheme, but some districts give Honors a full point, some cap the total at 5.0 or 6.0, and some weight only a fixed list of courses. Your school's student handbook is the authority.
Districts that use this scheme officially often grade in whole letters only. Plus and minus steps of 0.3 are applied here because most transcripts show them; if yours doesn't, choose whole letters.
Colleges frequently strip the weighting and recompute an unweighted GPA from core academic classes only, which is why both figures are shown.
Whether a D in an AP class earns the bonus varies by district. It does here; only an F is excluded.

FAQ

: Yes — that is the point of it. With AP or IB classes worth up to 5.0, a schedule of straight A's in all-AP classes is a 5.00 weighted and a 4.00 unweighted.

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