May we count your visit with Google Analytics? It uses cookies and sends visit data to Google. You can change this any time under Cookie choices. Privacy
BU uses plus and minus grades: an A is 4.0, an A− 3.7, a B+ 3.3, a B 3.0, a B− 2.7, a C+ 2.3, a C 2.0, a C− 1.7, a D 1.0 and an F 0.0. There’s no A+, and no D+ or D−. An F counts as zero in your GPA, and so does an F* in a course you chose to take pass/fail; a missing grade (MG) you don’t resolve turns into an F. If you retake a course, the new grade doesn’t replace the old one: both grades and all their units count in your GPA, and you can retake a course for a grade only once.
BU’s points: A 4.00, A− 3.70, B+ 3.30, B 3.00 and so on.
The plus/minus cutoffs Wikipedia lists for US colleges: A+ from 97%, A 93, A- 90, B+ 87, B 83, B- 80 and so on down to D- at 60. It is not universal, so use your syllabus's cutoffs when they differ.Source: Wikipedia, “Academic grading in the United States”.
Your class cutoffs
Letter
Lowest %
Remove
Each letter starts at its lowest percentage and runs up to the next letter.
Rounding and decimal places
Follow your syllabus. A displayed percentage can round up while the unrounded score stays below a cutoff.
Only changes how results are shown. Extra places appear when rounding would push a score over a letter cutoff.
A letter typed as a score counts as the lowest percentage for that letter on this scale. Use the original percentage when you have it.
Only scales that publish GPA points can convert a percentage. Check that your school uses these same points.
Example courses. Change them to yours, or
CourseGradeUnits
Include your earlier GPA
Quality points are the more exact input when the displayed GPA has already been rounded. Do not include these same units again in the course rows.
Raise my GPA: what would it take to reach a target?
These are future units beyond the courses and earlier record entered above.
Pass/fail or a retake: what would change?
Whether a pass/fail course leaves the GPA and whether a retake replaces the old grade are your school’s rules; the table below shows BU’s.
One grade higher: which course moves your GPA most?
Each line raises one course by one grade on the grade points above and leaves the others as entered, so a course that carries more credit moves the GPA more. A course you haven’t finished can be marked “Planned” in its ⋯ menu: the GPA so far then leaves it out, and the projection counts it at the grade you chose. A grade already on your transcript changes only under your school’s retake or grade-change rules.
Compare with a GPA line (dean's list, scholarship, good standing)Course groups and equal weights
Set a course's group or term, or mark it planned, in its ⋯ menu. Groups are just your labels: they don’t apply AMCAS or other application-service GPA rules.
Import courses from a transcript or spreadsheet
Copy the courses from your unofficial transcript, degree audit or a spreadsheet and paste them here, one course per line with its grade and credits. Term headings such as “Fall 2025” keep the courses in their terms. Your grades stay in this browser.
Line
Course
Read as
This replaces the courses above. You can put them back afterwards.
Save my courses or compare versions
Nothing is sent to us. Untick the box to forget them.
To compare plans, save the courses as they are now as a version, change them, and save again. Versions stay in this browser until you delete them.
Open a file you saved with “Save the versions to a file”, in this browser or another. It is read in your browser and sent nowhere.
BU’s rules checked in its 2026–2027 Bulletin. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at BU
BU multiplies each course’s grade points by its units, adds them up and divides by the units that count. Enter your courses above with these points already set.
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at BU
A course left out of the GPA adds no points and no units. In the calculator, choose its code or “Not counted”; a code that counts as zero lowers the GPA like a failing grade.
How BU counts each code
Code
What it means
In the BU GPA
F
Fail, no units
Counts 0.0 honor points, and its units count in the units you attempted, so it pulls your GPA down. You don’t earn units toward your degree for it. Rule
D
Low, pass
Worth 1.0 honor point. No more than 16 units with a D can count toward your BU degree, and your major may allow fewer. Every D counts in your term GPI and cumulative GPA, including D grades in courses you repeat. Rule
P* or F*
Pass or Fail in a course you chose to take pass/fail
A D or better becomes a P*, which counts its units toward your degree but stays out of your GPA. An F becomes an F*, and both its units and its 0.0 count in your GPA, with no units toward your degree. You can choose pass/fail for up to eight units in your bachelor’s degree, one course per fall, spring or summer term. The pages word the limit differently: the Pass/Fail policy says eight units, while the policy’s appendix and the College of Arts & Sciences grades page say two courses. If you entered as a first-year in fall 2018 or later, or as a transfer in fall 2020 or later, a P* can’t meet school or college, major or minor, or Directed Study requirements. You choose pass/fail near the end of the course, by the drop-with-a-W deadline (November 6, 2026 for fall 2026 standard courses), and the choice can’t be undone after that. You can’t repeat a pass/fail course unless it’s a repeatable course. If you get more than eight units of P*/F*, the extra ones change back to your earned letter grade. Rule
P
Pass, in a course that can only be taken pass/fail
Doesn’t count in your GPA. Some courses can only be taken pass/fail; they show as P or F on your transcript, and you can take them on top of the courses you choose to take pass/fail. Rule
W
Withdrew from the course
Doesn’t count in your GPA. A standard course you drop in the first five weeks doesn’t appear on your record. Drop it after that and you get a W. You can drop a standard course up to the tenth week of classes, and not after. For fall 2026 standard courses, the last day to drop without a W is October 7 and the last day to drop with a W is November 6. Rule
I
Incomplete
Not counted in your GPA until you finish the work and get a letter grade. You need to talk with your instructor before grades are due and sign an Incomplete Grade Agreement with a completion date. You must finish within one year or by the date on the form, whichever comes first; then the I becomes the grade on the agreement, or an F if none is given. Without a signed agreement, an I can become an F at any time. In the College of Arts & Sciences, you can’t finish an incomplete by sitting through the course again. Rule
J
You need to register in the same or continuing course to finish the requirements
Not counted in your GPA until you complete the work in the same or continuing course; then its units count. Rule
MG
Missing grade: an unresolved registration status
Doesn’t count in your GPA while it’s an MG. Faculty give an MG if you never attended or stopped attending before the last day to drop without a W. You must resolve it before the last day of classes of the following term or before graduation, whichever is earlier, or it turns into an F. You can’t graduate with an MG in a non-PDP course. Rule
AU
Audit, no units
Doesn’t count in your GPA, and audited courses can’t count toward a degree. The last day to add an audit or switch a course to audit is the last day to add courses for units. If you don’t meet the requirements you agreed on with your instructor, you can be withdrawn and get a W. Rule
CR or NC
Units (course acceptable for degree) or No units (course not acceptable for degree)
At BU a retake doesn’t replace your first grade. Every grade and all the units from each attempt count in your GPA, whether or not the course is one designated as repeatable for additional units. You can take a course again for a grade only once, and you earn its units toward your degree only once: take a 4-unit course twice and you get 4 units, not 8. A course you took pass/fail can’t be repeated for units. Grades from courses at other schools don’t count in your BU GPA, so retaking a course elsewhere doesn’t remove the BU grade. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Only units transfer to BU. Your grades from other schools don’t transfer, don’t count in your BU GPA and don’t appear on your BU transcript. A course needs a C or better and must be equivalent to a BU course; courses you chose to take pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory don’t earn units, and neither do vocational, remedial, physical education or ROTC courses. Quarter hours convert at two-thirds. First-year entrants in the full-time schools can apply up to 60 external units, transfer students up to 68, and Metropolitan College students up to 80. You need at least 68 BU units if you started as a first-year, 60 if you transferred in, or 48 at Metropolitan College. In the College of Arts & Sciences, summer courses elsewhere need a C or better and at least 2.5 BU units. Check with your school or college before you take courses somewhere else. Rule
BU GPA lines
These are BU’s published undergraduate lines, each with the other conditions its catalog sets. Your college or program may set its own, higher lines.
Published GPA lines at BU
GPA line
What it means
Also required
2.00 term GPI and 2.00 cumulative GPA
Good Standing
Full-time students also need to earn at least 12 academic units each term. The term figure is called the GPI; the GPA is cumulative. Transfer grades don’t count. Your record is reviewed at the end of each term. The College of Arts & Sciences says you should complete 12, and preferably 16, units a term. Full rule
Below 2.00 term GPI or cumulative GPA
Academic Probation
Also if you complete fewer than 12 units in a term. You’re reviewed after one semester; with a GPI and GPA of 2.00 or above and 12 units, you return to Good Standing. You can be on probation for no more than two terms in a row. Full rule
Not back to 2.00 after probation
Academic Suspension or Dismissal
If your term on probation doesn’t bring you back to Good Standing, your school or college decides on suspension, dismissal or a second probation term. After suspension you return on probation. Dismissal is a permanent separation from BU. Full rule
3.50 term GPI (Arts & Sciences)
Dean’s List
The rule depends on your school or college. In the College of Arts & Sciences you need at least four term courses and 15 units of academic coursework, with no I grades, in a fall or spring term; transfer units and Summer Term don’t count, and the list isn’t recomputed after late grade changes. Questrom asks for 3.5 on at least four letter-graded courses totaling 16 units. The College of Communication asks for a 3.80 GPI with a full-time load. The College of Fine Arts gives the Dean’s List for 3.50 to 3.79 and the Dean’s List with Special Distinction for 3.8 or above, on at least 12 units. Full rule
Top 5% / next 10% / next 15% of your school
Summa cum laude / magna cum laude / cum laude
Latin honors are percentages, not fixed GPAs. Each year, each school or college sets its own GPA break points from the cumulative GPA of all your coursework, including your final semester. No honors below a 3.0. PDP and OTP courses are left out, except that the College of Engineering includes OTP courses. Full rule
2.0 cumulative
Minimum GPA to graduate
With at least 128 units, your degree program requirements and the BU Hub requirements. Your school or college may require more than 128 units. You have seven years from admission to finish. Full rule
To see how far you are from one of them, enter it under “Compare with a GPA line” in the calculator, or as your target in the target GPA planner.
A worked example
At BU a retake doesn’t replace the F. Say you earn an F, an A and a B in three 4-unit courses and drop a fourth after the fifth week, so it shows a W: (0 × 4 + 4 × 4 + 3 × 4) ÷ 12 = 28 ÷ 12 ≈ 2.33, and the W doesn’t count. You retake the failed course and earn a B. Both the F and the B count: (0 × 4 + 4 × 4 + 3 × 4 + 3 × 4) ÷ 16 = 40 ÷ 16 = 2.50. If the B replaced the F, as at many schools, you’d have 3.33. You still earn only 4 units toward your degree for that course.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your BU academic record.
For any other college, the college GPA calculator starts on the common plus/minus 4.0 points and takes your school’s own. Cumulative GPA combines terms you already have, and the GPA guide answers what a GPA means.
