Keeping your GPA high is important. It’s more than a simple way for others to measure how well you perform in school. People who’ve never met you – such as employers and deans of admission – will use your GPA as a measure of how well you might do in the programs. As you apply for jobs, scholarships, and further education, you need to report the cumulative GPA. While your current GPA shows how well you do in your most recent set of courses, your cumulative GPA is more in-depth. It shows your total GPA, or how well you have done in all courses you have taken so far.
What Is a Cumulative GPA?
A cumulative GPA is the standard for measuring school performance throughout your high school and college years. It takes your final grade for each course and averages all of them. If your school uses different grading system (such as letter grades or percentages), you will need to transform each course grade to the 4.0 scale before you can calculate your cumulative GPA. This calculator is an Excel download that can help you convert letter grades to the 4.0 scale and calculate your cumulative GPA. It can also be used to project your future GPA.
Template Contents
When you download this file, you receive two worksheets:
- GPA grading system
- Cumulative GPA calculator
These worksheets work together to calculate your cumulative GPA base on your school’s grading system.
GPA Grading System
Each school has authority to determine their grading scale. This scale assigns numeric grade points, called quality points, to letter grades. The most common grading scale is unweighted GPA scale. Many high schools and colleges use this scale. It simply assigns numeric score (between 4.0 and 0.0 grade points) to each letter grade.
Once these numbers are set, you are ready to calculate your cumulative GPA with the other worksheet in this file, the Cumulative GPA Calculator.
Cumulative GPA Calculator
To calculate, you need to select whether your school uses semesters or quarters. In typical bachelor’s degree program, there are eight semesters (two each academic year) or twelve quarters (four each academic year, attended year-round, or more commonly, three quarters a year for four years with the summer quarter used as a break). To get this, you need to look at the class credits earned during each grading period. This cumulative GPA calculator has room for either, so use drop-down menu to select between “Semester” or “Quarter.”
Calculate Cumulative GPA
As you enter records, you will notice information at the top changing. This is where you can see your overall academic records. You will find your Grand Total Credits and Grand Total Points. These numbers are total number of credits and points you have completed. The points are calculated by multiplying your credits by number of points assigned to that letter grade in the grading system. In the center, your cumulative GPA is calculated. This is the overall GPA from all of courses you have entered. This calculation is made by dividing the number of total points by your total credit hours. There is no “Calculate” button; the GPA calculation is automatically taking place each time you enter data.
Predict Future Cumulative GPA
You can also use this GPA calculator to calculate your potential cumulative GPA. If you know that certain GPA is required for an opportunity, you can see if you can raise your GPA high enough if you work hard in your remaining semesters. Because of this way GPA is calculated, a low grade earned in one class doesn’t mean your GPA will always be low. As you complete more courses and earn better grades, one low grade will not have as much impact on your overall academic record. Typically, high schools and colleges have list of required courses students must take to meet the required number of credits for graduation.
Calculate GPA for an Unofficial Transcript
By tracking your academic record with this spreadsheet, you can generate your own unofficial transcript. This will not be an official transcript generated by your own school, but it will serve as a record of credits earned and the grades you received.
Keeping Track of Your GPA for Academic Success
Earning good grades can help you get the job or academic placement that you desire. It’s important to proactively calculate your GPA and know where you stand. Then you can take action needed to improve your GPA if needed.
