Can anyone explain the unweighted GPA scale?

I've seen discussions about both weighted and unweighted GPAs. I know weighted takes course difficulty into account, but what about unweighted? Can anyone explain the unweighted GPA scale and how it might be calculated?

Certainly! The unweighted GPA scale is a standard way of measuring a student's academic performance without considering the level of difficulty of the courses they've taken. On this scale, GPA values typically range from 0.0 to 4.0, with 4.0 as the highest possible score. Unweighted GPAs provide a simplified measure of a student's overall academic achievement.

To calculate an unweighted GPA, you'll first need to know the letter grades you received in each class and how many credit hours each class was worth. Here's the basic process of calculating an unweighted GPA:

1. Convert letter grades to points: Assign point values to each letter grade you've received as per the following scale:

- A = 4.0 points

- B = 3.0 points

- C = 2.0 points

- D = 1.0 points

- F = 0.0 points

2. Multiply the point value for each class by the number of credit hours it's worth. For example, if you earned a B in a 3-credit-hour class, you would multiply 3.0 (the point value of a B) by 3 (the credit hours), giving you a total of 9 grade points for that class.

3. Add up the total grade points from all your classes.

4. Add up the total number of credit hours from all your classes.

5. Divide the total grade points by the total credit hours. The result is your unweighted GPA.

Let's look at an example. Assume you took four 3-credit-hour classes and received the following grades:

- Class 1: A

- Class 2: B

- Class 3: B

- Class 4: C

First, convert these letter grades to points:

- Class 1: 4.0

- Class 2: 3.0

- Class 3: 3.0

- Class 4: 2.0

Next, multiply each point value by the credit hours (3 in this case) and add the grade points:

- Class 1: 12

- Class 2: 9

- Class 3: 9

- Class 4: 6

Total Grade Points: 36

Now, add the total credit hours, which is 12 in this example (4 classes 3 credit hours each). Finally, divide the total grade points by the total credit hours:

Unweighted GPA = Total Grade Points / Total Credit Hours

Unweighted GPA = 36 / 12 = 3.0

So, the unweighted GPA in this scenario is 3.0.