GPA Calculator

GPA Meaning

Students of Bachelor's or Master's often come across a term quoted as GPA. It's quite apparent that you have heard about 3 GPA, 3.5 GPA, or 4 GPA. So, what exactly GPA meaning is, and why the GPA scale is one of the essential measures to keep an eye on. Let's dive in to explore this topic.

GPA portrays Grade Point Average, which is portrayed as one of the standard mechanisms to measure academic excellence. Specifically, it's a number used as a mechanism to measure how well one score in their academic courses. It is identical to how our professors or teacher present us a grade based on our performance or progress. A GPA scale measures between 1.0 and 4.0 for the portrayal of your score or progress and defines whether you have met with the expectancy of an academic degree or university.

In simple words, your GPA is a number that tells about your academic hard work, how efficiently you learned different subjects included in specific semesters, terms, or years. GPA introduces an efficient grading mechanism for colleges and secondary schools. It usually establishes a GPA scale of grading of A, B, C, D, F, and every grade defines a grade point, A carries 4 points, B carries 3 points, C carries 2 points, D carries 1 point, and F carries 0 points.


Guidelines for Raising GPA

One cannot define a specific set of strategies or formula to raise one's GPA. A particular formula can work for one person. That specific tactic may fail for others, making it troublesome to grasp a defined set of formulas. But don't worry; if you desire to raise your GPA, you must get your hands on a specific set of guidelines and study habits. Here we present you with the best procedures to raise your GPA. Though they don't come with a guaranty to increase the GPA, these include some of the best study mechanism which will give you an extra push to climb to a higher GPA.


Attending Every Class without Failing

The classes are designed for the students to deliver them the proper guidance and knowledge on respective subjects. All these classes are chargeable, and either the parents or students pay a lump sum amount of credit to attend these. And not attending the classes are not only a financial loss but also a loss of knowledge. The students are availed with the choice to choose the beneficial classes as some of the professors may deliver insufficient experience.

But it is always beneficial to attend a class as it develops a positive learning environment for the students, and the students can grab the valuable academic knowledge delivered to them. While on the other hand, not attending the class properly may push you back in the race to get hold of the highest GPA point average, as you may miss important notes, study material, or be important information related to examinations. It is quite evident in today's time that the teacher or professors mostly repeats pre-developed notes with are often posted on websites and may present an inefficient teaching mechanism.

But regular attendance in class, specifically small classes, may permit the teacher to link a name, a face, and a grade, especially if the student actively participates in the class. Building a healthy relationship with the professor may help the students in emergencies like missed due dates. Apart from this, activate participation, develop a learning environment for the students, and help them explore more about several topics to have a deep understanding of various concepts, which acts as a boon to elevate their GPA.


Proper Planning and Execution 

Every student is different; therefore, their learning style and understanding of a specific subject are also different. Each student has different strategies and tactics to grasp a concept. Thus, there is no ideal learning mechanism; therefore, how a student approaches the subjects is completely independent of specific guidelines and regulations.

A student should opt for a learning strategy that suits their schedules best. As some students prefer to study at once for 5 hours or more, while some prefer a break in between. As we know, quality matters more than quantity; studying time doesn't matter if you have an efficient understanding mechanism and deep concentration on the concepts. Proper tracking of notes and essential points of the lessons are very much crucial for boosting your GPA.

The Professors provide limitless knowledge in their lectures, and it is quite challenging to grasp all by just hearing. Therefore the students must develop a habit of not downing the notes from later references. Time management also plays an incredible role in learning and academic excellence. Every student must have a vivid view to utilize their time to blend the maximum worth. Apart from that, Revise is the key to score well in exams, and understanding and learning the concepts, you must revise it regularly to hold the grasp of the subject for a long time.


How to Calculate GPA?

Are you curious to find how you can calculate GPA? So let's dive into it.

A quality point is depicted by every student's grade, whether it is a numerical, percentage, or letter grade.

These quality points always remain within a scale of 0 to 4. The number increases from 0 to 4, based on the highest grade you achieve.

Let's take an example – 

Let's say I took a course with three subjects – Computer (2credits), Mathematics (2credits), English (3credits). So, if I calculate a grade, it will be –

Computer – C (As C is 2.0 on GPA Scale) 

Mathematics – B (As C is 3.0 on GPA Scale)

English – A (as A is 4.0 on GPA Scale)

Now, how can I calculate my GPA? For that, I need to multiply the grades by the number of credits in each subject. We get 4-grade points for Computer, 6-grade points for Mathematics, and 12-grade points for English. Total I collected 22-grade points. Now, how can I calculate my GPA, so? To calculate GPA, we need to divide the grade points received by the total number of credits in all subjects, that is, (2+2+3=7). Through this method, I can easily calculate my GPA. Hereafter I calculate GPA; I got 3 GPA; you can also get a GPA in decimal points like 3.5 GPA.


GPA to CGPA

Before pointing out the key differences between Cumulative GPA and overall GPA, let's first clarify that both the terms refer to grade point average. The main difference is that the CGPA meaning refers to calculating grade point average for a shorter period, like semesters or terms. And on the other hand, overall GPA meaning refers to the student's average grade points in his entire academic journey. This concludes that the overall GPA includes all the semesters and terms in it. To obtain a high CGPA, all students must secure a high GPA in all terms throughout the annum. 

The formula of CGPA is represented as the summation of all courses taken in a term divided by total credit hours taken in all terms. There are a bunch of online platforms that provide conversion of GPA to CGPA. Students need to provide the marks in each subject each semester and credit hours. The calculator or website undergoes various calculations that add up to the marks to divide it with the credit hours to serve the students with their CGPA.

Like this, to get the correct GPA, students can provide their overall marks for each term. The calculator performs an easy operation to divide the target by the number of credit hours throughout the year to produce the overall GPA.

Let's see how it works and how we can convert GPA to CGPA –

  1. To obtain CGPA, we must add all the marks they got in all semesters or terms in a specific subject.
  2. Then we must divide the obtained marks by the credit hours (number of classes attended).
  3. After obtaining the CGPA all every subject, we can add all the numbers to grab the final CGPA.


Why is GPA Important?

GPA is one of the essential measures throughout our academic journey, which portrays how good a student is in his educational field, whether you are going well or not. Although you can easily see whether you qualified or not, the GPA system provides you a broader view of your academic excellence. If students opted for a Bachelor's or Master's degree, he might need their GPA for certain sections. Few examples when your GPA plays a crucial role –

  1. While a student applies for a scholarship, he/she is asked for GPA or GPA to Percentage marks.
  2. If a student opts for a Ph.D. or Master's, he is asked for GPA or GPA to Percentage marks.
  3. If the student tends to join a club or organization, his/her GPA or GPA to Percentage marks is asked.
  4. Students may need a GPA for extracurricular activities.

A high GPA can turn out to be the most powerful weapon for you to conquer academic excellence in simple words.


How to keep a High GPA?

A common question arises among students that 'what is a good GPA?' Well, the answer is clear; it solely depends on the level of education. For instance, it is a piece of cake to obtain a good GPA in high school, rather than in College or University. Most of the well-known institutions demand a 3.5 GPA or more. So how to maintain such a high GPA?

Maintaining such a high GPA is not always a child's play, and if you initiate your academic journey with a low GPA, it is quite challenging to elevate it later. Your GPA may change every year or every semester, but it must be clear that the semester GPA will provide you a clear picture of your ongoing performance and hard work in the respective course. Therefore to achieve a high GPA, you must work on your learnings, understanding, and practice in the subjects of the course you opt for.


Frequently Asked Questions 

Q1: Do GPA matters the most for a student?

Ans – People in today's time overlook creativity, knowledge, and innovation to measure your worth by numerical value and grades, rather than looking at other achievements you receive during your academic journey. Although many students' grades may be low, they are equally hardworking and ambitious towards their academic achievements. Therefore, your GPA does not define your worth. A low GPA does not portray your skills, and your knowledge is below average or not up to the mark. A low GPA may define hard luck, but it's not a measure of your intelligence.


Q2: What is a good GPA?

Ans – It's quite a difficult job to conclude a good GPA, as it entirely depends on the level of education, whether it is a higher secondary level or university level. And GPA of 3.5 and above is usually considered to be perfect by top-notch universities or colleges. Therefore the best universities always prefer a student with a 3.5 GPA or higher. If a student obtains a lower GPA, he may enroll in some colleges, but a lower GPA will prohibit him from having financial aid or other educational support services. So keeping a high GPA is one of the primary goals of the students in their academic journey.


Q3: What is a good high school GPA?

Ans – The efficiency of your GPA is entirely dependent on your college, school, or university. Top schools define a GPA of 3.5 or more as one of the admission criteria, while most of the institutions avail admission to students with a lower GPA, such as 2.5 GPA or even lower). The type of GPA is also taken into consideration by some institutions. For instance, suppose you belong to a high school employing a weighted GPA, and one of the students has obtained a 3.0 GPA, attending advanced classes, while the other student obtained a 3.5 GPA attending easy classes. The institution will always prefer the first student as GPA is carefully calculated based on context, considering every detail.


Q4: What is the Weighted GPA and Unweighted GPA?

Ans – We can obtain a weighted GPA after the addition of extra points of honours or Advanced Placement Courses. It simply means that unlike the transitional GPA system, A here receive 5-grade points instead of 4, while B grabs the 4-grade points mark instead of 3. This, as a whole, leads to an excess of overall GPA by 40.

While on the other hand, unweighted GPA refers to the transitional GPA system, which measures a GPA scale from 0 to 4. Here, A is 4 regardless of the class, B is 3, and so on. In this system, a student who scored A in advance class and a student who scored A in lower-level class, both awarded with 4.0-grade points.


Q5: How can you boost your GPA?

Ans – There is no pre-defined mechanism to elevate your GPA. After analysis of years of the academic journey, certain guidelines are framed, which help the students get an extra push to achieve academic excellence. To boost GPA, the students first must have a deep understanding and interest in the course they opt for. They also must hold on to an efficient mechanism of time management that binds the students with the thread of flexible learning hours. The students must manage their timings well to attend the classes and take notes from them properly. They must have a proper self–study schedule and must have adequate time for revision before the examinations.


Q6: Why is Cumulative GPA important?

Ans – The Cumulative GPA or CGPA is defined as the average of grade points for a shorter period, which is obtained by adding all the grade points in a specific semester and now divide the sum by the total credit hours. CGPA is one of the vital score points that universities and employers usually look at. It is important because it portrays a student's consistency and serves as a track record in his academic journey.