How to raise your GPA, and how fast it can move

How a cumulative GPA works

Your cumulative GPA is all your quality points divided by all your credits. Each course earns quality points equal to its grade points times its credits, so an A (4.0) in a 3-credit course earns 12.

This is why a GPA gets harder to move over time. Every new term is averaged with everything before it, and “everything before it” keeps growing.

How much one term can change it

Here is what a perfect 15-credit term does for a student with a 3.0 GPA, depending on how many credits they already have:

The same term is worth 0.50 for a first-year student and 0.11 for a senior. So the earlier you start, the more room you have.

How long a target takes

To find how many credits a target will take, use the average you expect to earn from now on:

Take a student with a 3.0 GPA over 60 credits who wants to reach a 3.3:

The last row is the one people miss. You can’t reach a target by averaging exactly that target, because your older, lower grades still pull you down. You have to earn above it.

What you need next term

For a single term, work the formula backwards. With a 3.2 GPA over 45 credits, you hold 144 quality points. To reach a 3.3 after 15 more credits:

1. Quality points that target takes: 3.3 × 60 = 198.
2. Subtract what you have: 198 − 144 = 54.
3. Divide by next term’s credits: 54 ÷ 15 = 3.6.

You need a 3.6 next term. For a 3.5, the same steps give 4.4, which is above a 4.0, so it’s out of reach in one term on the usual scale. The formula from the last section says it would take 27 credits of straight A’s.

Where the effort counts most

Credits decide how much a grade counts. Raising a B to an A adds one grade point per credit, so in a 4-credit course it adds 4 quality points. In a 15-credit term, that’s 0.27 on your term GPA. In a 1-credit course, the same jump adds 0.07.

So if you have to choose where to put extra hours, the courses with the most credits have the most effect on your GPA. The worst grades deserve a look too, because a C raised to a B adds as much as a B raised to an A.

Retakes and transfer credits

These depend on your school, and they can change your answer a lot.

Retakes. Rowan University counts the highest grade in the cumulative GPA, while Georgia Tech keeps both attempts in the average. Take a student with a 3.0 over 60 credits, which includes a 3-credit F, who retakes that course and earns a B:

• If the new grade replaces the F, the F’s credits stay in the total with 9 new quality points: 189 ÷ 60 = 3.15.
• If both attempts count, the new credits are added too: 189 ÷ 63 = 3.00.

Transfer credits. Rowan and Georgia Tech both leave transfer grades out of the GPA they calculate, so good grades elsewhere may not help your GPA at those schools.

Ask your registrar how your school treats retakes before you plan around one. Your transcript is the official figure.

Common mistakes

• Averaging term GPAs. A short term would count as much as a full one. Use credits, as the calculator does.
• Setting a target equal to your average. You have to earn above your target to reach it.
• Planning on a 4.0 every term. Try the calculator with an average you’ve actually earned before.
• Leaving out the school’s rules. Retakes, transfer credits and plus and minus values all vary.