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Caltech computes your GPA from a published table of credits per course: per unit, an A+ works out to 4.33, an A to 4, A− 3.67, B+ 3.33, B 3, B− 2.67, C+ 2.33, C 2, C− 1.67, D+ 1.33, D 1 and F 0, and there’s no D−; the table rounds each course to whole credits, so a 9-unit A+ earns 39 credits but a 1-unit A+ earns only 4. An F counts zero with all its units, and so does a course with no grade reported; P, an F in a pass/fail course, E, I and W stay out, as do your Core and listed introductory courses in your first two terms as a first-year student. There’s no grade replacement: if you repeat a failed course, the new grade counts and the original F and its units stay in your GPA.
Caltech’s points: A+ 4.33, A 4.00, A− 3.67, B+ 3.33 and so on. The calculator rounds each course to whole credits, as Caltech’s table does.
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 Caltech’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.
Caltech’s rules checked in its 2026–2027 Caltech Catalog. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at Caltech
Caltech 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.
California Institute of Technology letter grades and grade points
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at Caltech
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 Caltech counts each code
Code
What it means
In the Caltech GPA
A+
Extraordinary performance
Worth 13 credits in a 3-unit course and 39 in a 9-unit course (4.33 per unit), though a 1-unit A+ earns 4 credits, the same as an A. Instructors may give it to at most 5% of an undergraduate course plus 3 students. The catalog’s Notices and Agreements page says an A+ is equivalent to 4.3, while the Grades and Grading credits table works out to 4.33 per unit. Rule
F
Failed
Earns no credit, but its units count in your GPA at zero, even after you repeat the course. A course with no grade reported, a course you register for and neither complete nor drop, an E you don’t finish, and every ungraded course when you leave without filing a formal leave form all become an F. An F in an elective doesn’t have to be made up if you pass enough other units for your option. Rule
D+, D
Poor (passing)
Worth 4 and 3 credits in a 3-unit course and 12 and 9 in a 9-unit course (1.33 and 1 per unit). There is no D−. A D or better becomes a P when a course is graded pass/fail. Rule
F*
Failed a course taken pass/fail
Doesn’t count in your GPA. You still earn no credit for the course. Rule
P
Passed
Doesn’t count in your GPA. Every passing grade in Core and in Bi 8, Ma 2, Ma 3, Ph 2ab, Ph 12ab and Ch 41ab in your first two terms as a first-year student is a P, and your GPA starts at the end of your third term, though letter grades in other classes you take for letter grades in those terms do count. After that you may elect two electives a term pass/fail with your adviser’s approval, by Drop Day (the calendar’s last day for exercising the pass/fail option), unless the course is letter-grades-only or required for your option; at most 90 elected pass/fail units count toward the B.S. Research courses are pass/fail, and an option such as Computer Science can refuse pass/fail courses for its requirements. Rule
E
Conditional: incomplete work you can finish without repeating the course
Doesn’t count in your GPA while it stands. You request it and your instructor decides. Finish by Add Day of the next term (the calendar’s last day for removing conditions), or by the first day of classes if the E affects your eligibility, or it becomes an F. Each extension records another E, and you get at most six in your time at Caltech without a UASH petition. After one year an unresolved E becomes an F. The catalog calls E “conditional,” while the Registrar’s list calls it “Conditioned.”. Rule
I
Incomplete
Doesn’t count in your GPA. Given only for unexpected illness or emergency near the end of the term, at the instructor’s discretion with a dean’s approval, and not if you haven’t done most of the coursework. Finish by Add Day of the next term unless your instructor and dean set another date; after one year an unresolved I becomes a W. Rule
W
Withdrawn
Doesn’t count in your GPA. You get a W in every course when you withdraw from Caltech after Add Day, when UASH approves a late drop (only for circumstances beyond your control, filed before the end of the next term), or when an I goes unresolved for a year. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
Caltech doesn’t replace grades. You may register to repeat a failed course in a later term and earn credit for it; the new grade and units count like any other course, but the original F and its units stay on your record and in your GPA. An F in an elective doesn’t have to be made up if you pass enough other units for your option, and an F in a course you took pass/fail never counts. The catalog describes repeating only after an F, and its financial aid progress page says you can’t retake a passed course to try for a higher grade or have your lowest grade excluded. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Caltech’s catalog doesn’t say whether grades from other schools enter your GPA. For exchange courses at Occidental College and Art Center, the Registrar’s FAQ says the letter grade isn’t transferred to your transcript, only Caltech-equivalent units. Credit from elsewhere isn’t automatic: once you’re enrolled you need the dean’s permission, a transcript sent to the Registrar and an Allowance of Credit form approved by your option representative, and the executive officers decide credit for humanities and social science courses. College courses taken in high school don’t transfer. If you enter as a transfer student, your credit and class standing are set when you enroll, and you must earn at least 216 units at Caltech, not counting math and science Core courses, and enroll for at least six terms. Rule
Caltech GPA lines
These are Caltech’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 Caltech
GPA line
What it means
Also required
1.9 term GPA with 27 units
Eligible to remain enrolled
You must also earn 108 units a year, 36 a term on average. First-year students aren’t held to the 1.9 GPA in their first two terms. Good standing also means you aren’t on academic or disciplinary probation. Full rule
Below 1.9 term GPA or fewer than 27 units
Ineligible to register (first time)
You petition the dean, who may reinstate you on academic probation for your next term or refer you to UASH, which reinstates you on probation or requires you to withdraw for at least two terms. Eligibility is judged on your record as of the first day of classes. The Notices and Agreements page calls this dismissal and says a reinstated student must earn a 1.9 GPA in the next term. Full rule
After reinstatement
Academic probation
Probation lasts until you successfully complete a term. Full rule
Second ineligibility
Required withdrawal
You must leave for at least two terms, not counting summer, and then petition UASH for reinstatement. Full rule
Third ineligibility
Enrollment ends
You can’t continue to enroll at Caltech. Full rule
Below 1.9 in your option’s designated subjects
May be refused continuation in that option
Your department decides, at the end of an academic year. To transfer into an option you need a 1.9 GPA in its required or designated subjects, or its permission. Full rule
1.9 cumulative
Graduation minimum
You also need a passing grade in every required course, at least 486 units and four years (12 terms) of enrollment. Full rule
Below 1.9 cumulative
Not making financial aid progress
Progress is checked once a year after grades post, and you also need 108 units a year and no more than 729 attempted units. If you’re allowed to register, you’re on academic and financial aid probation. 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 Caltech a repeated F never leaves your GPA. Say that in one term you earn a C and an F in two 9-unit courses, a B+ in a third 9-unit course and an A− in a 6-unit lab, and pass a 3-unit course you elected pass/fail. The credits table gives 18, 0, 30 and 22 credits, and the P stays out: (18 + 0 + 30 + 22) ÷ 33 = 70 ÷ 33 ≈ 2.12. You repeat the failed course the next term and earn a B, worth 27 credits. The F’s 9 units still count, so (18 + 0 + 30 + 22 + 27) ÷ 42 = 97 ÷ 42 ≈ 2.31. If the B replaced the F, you’d have 97 ÷ 33 ≈ 2.94. Had you taken the failed course pass/fail, its F* would have stayed out of your GPA altogether.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your Caltech 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.
