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Dartmouth gives 4 points for an A, 3 2/3 (about 3.67) for an A−, 3 1/3 for a B+, 3 for a B, 2 2/3 for a B−, 2 1/3 for a C+, 2 for a C, 1 2/3 for a C−, 1 for a D and 0 for an E, and there’s no A+, D+ or D−. Every course counts as one unit, and your GPA is rounded to two decimals. Only the E counts as zero (a course you leave without an authorized withdrawal goes in as a failing grade), while NR, CT, NC, W, the temporary I, ON and AD, and all transfer grades stay out. If you retake a course you failed, both grades stay in your GPA and you earn only one course credit.
Dartmouth’s points: A 4.0000, A− 3.6667, B+ 3.3333, B 3.0000 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 Dartmouth’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.
Dartmouth’s rules checked in its Organization, Regulations and Courses (ORC) 2026–2027. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at Dartmouth
Dartmouth 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 Dartmouth
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 Dartmouth counts each code
Code
What it means
In the Dartmouth GPA
E
Failure
Counts 0 points in your GPA, earns no course credit and stays on your transcript permanently. An Incomplete you don’t finish on time without the Dean’s approval becomes an E, and so does a course you leave without an authorized withdrawal. An E in a Non-Recording Option course is recorded and averaged like any other E. If you retake a failed course, both grades count in your GPA and you earn one credit. Rule
D
Deficient but passing
Worth 1 point and earns credit, but no more than eight D’s count toward the 35 courses you need to graduate, and a D hidden under the Non-Recording Option still counts toward those eight. Any grade below C− is unsatisfactory for academic standing: one D in a term puts a student in satisfactory standing on Academic Risk. Rule
NR
Non-Recorded, under the Non-Recording Option
Stays out of your GPA, and the instructor’s letter grade is never released. Within the first fifteen days of a term (usually eleven class days; the term calendar gives the date) you can put one regularly graded course under the option and either name the lowest grade you’re willing to have recorded or ask for NR whatever happens; you can change that choice until five class days before the last day of classes. If the grade meets your limit, it counts as a regular grade; if it’s lower but not an E, you get NR; an E is recorded and averaged anyway, with no credit. You get one NR a term and three over your career (two or one if you transferred in), and an NR course counts toward your 35 but not toward distributive, World Culture or major requirements. Courses on the Registrar’s out-of-bounds list, First-Year Seminars, off-campus courses and courses taken for the Language Requirement can’t be used, and after Academic Risk, Warning or Probation you can’t use the option in your next term in residence. Rule
CT / NC
Credit / No Credit
Neither grade counts in your GPA. The department, not you, decides that a course is graded Credit/No Credit. A CT counts toward your 35 courses; an NC earns nothing and stays on your record. CT and NC courses can’t satisfy General Education requirements. For academic standing an NC counts as an E, and the ORC warns that some outside agencies count NC as an E when they recompute your GPA. You may count at most eight CT, NC, NR and NRO-course E standings combined toward graduation. Rule
W
Withdrew
Stays out of your GPA because it isn’t an A-through-E grade. Courses you drop in the first ten class days don’t appear on your transcript. After that, until ten class days before the last class day, you may withdraw at your own discretion and the course shows a W. In the last ten days of classes you must petition, and once final exams begin no withdrawal is accepted. A course you leave without an authorized withdrawal is averaged in as a failing grade. Rule
I
Incomplete, a temporary notation
Stays out of your GPA because the ORC says there is no grade of Incomplete. Only the Dean of Undergraduate Education can grant it, at your and the instructor’s request, and the request must reach the Dean by the last day of the exam period. Not finishing a course on time without the Dean’s approval results in an E, and if no grade is reported after an Incomplete runs out, the Registrar may record an E (or NC in a Credit/No Credit course). You can’t graduate with an Incomplete. Rule
ON / AD
On-Going / Administrative Delay
Temporary notations that stay out of your GPA until a grade replaces them. ON marks a course whose work runs past one term, such as some senior honors courses, and AD covers grades that can’t be reported on time, for example from an off-campus program. You can’t graduate with an ON or AD on your record. Rule
CR / EX
Credit on entrance (for example AP)
Listed on your transcript with 0 credits, so it never enters your GPA. Rule
Elementary language (substitution)
Grades in elementary non-English language courses for students granted a language substitution
If you’re granted a disability-related language substitution, none of your elementary language grades count in your cumulative GPA, retroactively. You get five Non-Recording Option uses instead of three, and an E in such a course still appears on your transcript but isn’t averaged. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
The ORC covers retakes only for a course you failed: you may take it again, both grades are recorded and both count in your cumulative GPA, and you earn only one course credit. The same principle applies to a Credit/No Credit course you didn’t pass. There’s no grade replacement, so the first E stays in your GPA for good. The ORC doesn’t describe repeating a course you passed. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Grades from other schools, exchange programs included, are never recorded on your Dartmouth transcript or averaged into your GPA; only Dartmouth-taught programs such as the LSA and FSP carry Dartmouth grades. A course transfers only with a grade of C quality or better, a pass/fail course only with proof that the grade was at least a C. If you entered as a first-year student, you may transfer at most four course credits toward the 35, before or after matriculation, or up to nine by petition for a special academic plan. If you transferred in, you may bring at most 17 courses and none after you matriculate. Students on an Academic Recovery Commitment or suspended normally can’t take transfer courses. Rule
The ORC says your GPA is computed with quality points three times the usual grade values (an A− is 11, a B+ 10) to avoid accumulating errors, and the quotient is rounded to two decimal places. The calculator rounds to two decimals the same way.
Dartmouth GPA lines
These are Dartmouth’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 Dartmouth
GPA line
What it means
Also required
One D in a term
Academic Risk
Applies to a student in satisfactory standing. It’s recorded by the Undergraduate Deans Office but not on your transcript, and you can’t use the Non-Recording Option in your next term in residence. The ORC now calls the standing actions an Academic Recovery Commitment and Mandatory Withdrawal for Academic Recovery, while the Student Affairs policy page still uses Risk, Warning, Probation and Suspension; both are based on grades, not a GPA. Full rule
Two D’s, or one E or NC, in a term
Academic Warning
Applies to a student in satisfactory standing, and an NC counts as an E. A third Warning means Probation, and you can’t use the Non-Recording Option in your next term in residence. Full rule
Three D’s, or a D and an E, in a term
Academic Probation
Applies to a student in satisfactory standing. To return to satisfactory standing you must take at least three courses in one term and earn a C−, CT or better in each. You stay eligible for financial aid on Risk, Warning or Probation. Full rule
Two D’s and an E, or two E’s, in a term
Academic Suspension
Applies to a student in satisfactory standing. It lasts three terms, and a second Suspension means permanent Separation. Full rule
35 courses passed
Graduation
The degree requirements are stated in courses rather than a minimum GPA: 35 courses passed and at least six terms in residence, with no more than eight D’s and no more than eight CT, NC, NR and NRO-course E standings combined. You can’t graduate with an I, ON or AD, and a student not in good standing after the last term needs the Committee on Standards’ approval. Full rule
3.83 cumulative
Cum laude
Each Latin honors line is the lowest final average among the past three years’ top 35%, 15% and 5% of graduates; the values for 2026–2027 come from 2023–2025. Full rule
3.92 cumulative
Magna cum laude
Set by the top 15% of graduates in the past three academic years. Full rule
3.98 cumulative
Summa cum laude
Set by the top 5% of graduates in the past three academic years. Full rule
3.95 cumulative
Phi Beta Kappa at graduation
That’s the 2026–2027 line, the top tenth of graduates from 2023–2024 to 2025–2026. A student who has been suspended isn’t eligible. Full rule
About 4.00 / 3.96 / 3.87 annual
Honor List, first, second and third groups
The first group are Rufus Choate Scholars. The lines are set from the previous year’s top 5%, 15% and 35% of eligible students, and the ORC gives these as preliminary estimates for 2026–2027. You need at least two terms enrolled, at least five regular letter grades (not CT, NC or NR) and no Incomplete that year. Full rule
3.0 overall and 3.0 in the major
Minimum to enter an Honors Program
Departments may set higher criteria. To earn Honors in your major you need at least a B+ average in the Honors Program work, and a department may also require a minimum average in the major itself. Full rule
Satisfactory progress
Financial aid eligibility
The ORC requires aid recipients to make satisfactory progress as described in the Student Handbook and gives no GPA figure. 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
Dartmouth’s Non-Recording Option lets you hide one grade a term. Say that in a four-course term you earn an A−, a B+ and a B, and you put your fourth course under the option with B− as the lowest grade you’d accept. Dartmouth counts every course as one unit and uses quality points (A− 11, B+ 10, B 9, C 6), so if the instructor’s C in that fourth course counted, your term GPA would be (11 + 10 + 9 + 6) ÷ (3 × 4) = 36 ÷ 12 = 3.00. Because the C is below your B− limit, your transcript shows NR, the C is never released, and the course still counts toward your 35: (11 + 10 + 9) ÷ (3 × 3) = 30 ÷ 9 ≈ 3.33. Had you earned an E instead, it would be recorded and averaged anyway, with no credit: 30 ÷ 12 = 2.50. Retaking that E wouldn’t erase it: a B on the retake gives (11 + 10 + 9 + 0 + 9) ÷ 15 = 39 ÷ 15 = 2.60.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your Dartmouth 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.
