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Northwestern grades on a 4.0 scale: an A is 4.0, A− 3.7, B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B− 2.7, C+ 2.3, C 2.0, C− 1.7, D 1.0 and F 0, with no A+, D+ or D−. Most quarter-long courses carry 1.0 unit. Three grades count as zero: the F, and the two incompletes, X (missed final exam) and Y (work incomplete), which carry 0.00 points until they’re changed. P, N, K, S, U, W and NR are ignored in your GPA, and credit you transfer in shows up as a T that stays out of it too. If you repeat a course, every attempt stays on your record and every grade counts in your cumulative GPA, but you get the credit only once.
Northwestern’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 Northwestern’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.
Northwestern’s rules checked in its 2026–2027 Undergraduate Catalog. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at Northwestern
Northwestern 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.
Northwestern University letter grades and grade points
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at Northwestern
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 Northwestern counts each code
Code
What it means
In the Northwestern GPA
F
Failure
Counts 0 in your GPA and earns no credit, since credit is only earned for passed classes. An X or Y you don’t resolve by the end of the following like term becomes an F, and so does any incomplete still open when your degree is conferred. Rule
X
Incomplete: missed the final exam or final assessment
Given when you missed the final but all your other work in the term was complete. It carries 0.00 grade points, so it pulls your GPA down until the instructor changes it, and schools count it in probation and dismissal decisions. You have until the end of the following like term; after that it becomes an F. Rule
Y
Incomplete: work incomplete
You can ask for a Y only if more than 50% of the course requirements are done and you’re passing on the work submitted so far. Like the X it carries 0.00 grade points until it’s changed, and it turns into an F if you miss the deadline. Rule
D
Lowest passing grade
Worth 1.0 and earns credit, but each school caps how many count. In Weinberg no more than one-fifth of your Northwestern courses offered for graduation may be P’s or D’s; in SESP no more than six; in McCormick no more than 3 of the 22 major units may be D’s. In Medill a D or worse in a journalism course means retaking it until you earn a C− or better. Rule
P
Pass with credit, under the P/N option
Earns credit and stays out of your GPA. You can switch a “Student Option” class between letter grades and P/N through Friday of the eighth week of classes. P/N is for general education classes and unrestricted electives, and each school sets its own limits: Weinberg allows 1 a quarter and 6 in all, McCormick 8 units toward the 48, Bienen six non-music courses, SoC six (Ns included). For Medill, the catalog says no more than 3 P/N courses count toward the 45 units, while the registrar’s P/N page says no more than six P grades. Rule
N
No grade, no credit, under the P/N option
Ignored in the GPA and earns no credit. In Weinberg, though, X, Y and N grades are counted as F’s when your GPA is checked for removal from probation, unless there are extenuating circumstances. In SoC an N still uses up one of your six P/N courses, and you can’t take any course P/N in a quarter you’re on probation. Rule
W
Withdrawn by permission
Ignored in the GPA. If you leave a course through an approved petition after the drop deadline, a W posts on your transcript. Withdrawn courses still count as attempted units for financial aid progress. Rule
K, S, U, NR
In progress; satisfactory or unsatisfactory in a noncredit course; no grade reported
All ignored in the GPA. NR means the instructor reported no grade. Rule
T
Transfer credit
Credit accepted from another institution appears on your Northwestern transcript as a T, not the grade you earned there, and the T is not used in your GPA. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
When you repeat a course meant to be taken once, all attempts stay on your record and all grades count in your cumulative GPA. Nothing is replaced or forgiven. The catalog says you get credit once, after the attempt with the highest grade; the School of Communication’s advising page says the repeat costs you the credit from the first time you took it. Medill and Bienen also state that the new grade doesn’t replace the old one, and Medill requires retaking a journalism course with a D or F. Repeated courses count as attempted units for financial aid progress. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Transfer credit comes in as a T and never enters your Northwestern GPA. To transfer, a course needs a letter grade of C or higher and can’t be taken pass/fail; audited, repeated or failed courses don’t transfer. Courses from other Northwestern careers, such as the School of Professional Studies or NU-Q, keep their grades and do count in your GPA. If you entered as a first-year, you must earn at least 32 units in at least 9 quarters at Northwestern (21 units in 6 quarters if you transferred in). Community college credit after you enroll: none toward a Weinberg degree, none after sophomore year in Medill, and in SESP the catalog asks for a B or higher while the registrar’s page says “B-grade or higher.” McCormick allows at most 4 transfer units in the major. Rule
Northwestern GPA lines
These are Northwestern’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 Northwestern
GPA line
What it means
Also required
Two or more grades below C in a quarter
Academic probation (ordinarily)
Your school’s faculty decides your standing, and continuing enrollment is how good standing is defined. Bienen counts C−, U and Y as grades below C. Full rule
Below a C (2.00) cumulative average
Academic probation for sophomores, juniors and seniors
Falling below a C average in your major also ordinarily means probation. To get off probation in Weinberg you normally need at least three courses at C or higher and a 2.00 cumulative GPA. Nowhere can you come off probation in a quarter you failed any course. Full rule
Failing half your work in a quarter
Possible dismissal
Applies to a student not on probation. A student on probation whose record hasn’t improved significantly, normally within 2 consecutive quarters, may also be dismissed. Full rule
2.0 in the courses for your degree
Graduation minimum
Weinberg asks for 2.0 in courses used to meet degree requirements, McCormick for 2.0 in all units and in the 22 major units, SESP for 2.0 in all work presented for the degree, and Medill for 2.0 in nonjournalism letter-graded courses. Full rule
2.25 in journalism courses
Medill minimum; below it means probation
The journalism GPA averages every journalism course you attempt, F’s included. Medill also sends a warning letter if your quarter GPA drops below 2.0 while your cumulative GPA is above 2.5. Full rule
Quarter GPA between 1.7 and 2.0
SESP academic warning
Under SESP’s 2024 warning and probation policy, a quarter GPA below 1.7 or a cumulative GPA below 2.0 means probation. Full rule
2.0 cumulative and 67% of units completed
Satisfactory academic progress for financial aid
Checked each year. Withdrawn, incomplete and repeated courses all count as attempted units. Full rule
3.70 quarter GPA
Weinberg Dean’s List
Needs at least three courses taken for a regular letter grade. Northwestern says dean’s list lines vary by school from 3.7 to 4.0. Full rule
3.75 quarter GPA
Dean’s List in SoC, McCormick and Bienen
Each requires a full-time load (McCormick: three or more units), and Bienen also requires no N, U or Y that quarter. Full rule
Top 5% of your school’s class
Summa cum laude
Latin honors go to the top 25% of each school’s graduates, based on all work at Northwestern. The GPA cutoffs aren’t made public. Full rule
Next 8% of your school’s class
Magna cum laude
Set by rank within your school, not by a published GPA. Full rule
Next 12% of your school’s class
Cum laude
Spring graduates are ranked within their own school. 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
Northwestern’s incompletes aren’t neutral. Say you take four one-unit courses in a quarter, earn an A, an A− and a B+, and your fourth course ends in a Y because the work isn’t finished. A Y carries 0.00 grade points, so your term GPA is (4.0 + 3.7 + 3.3 + 0) ÷ 4 = 11.0 ÷ 4 = 2.75. Finish by the end of the following like term and the Y becomes, say, a B: (11.0 + 3.0) ÷ 4 = 14.0 ÷ 4 = 3.50. Miss the deadline and it turns into an F, still 0. An N under the P/N option works the other way, since it’s ignored: 11.0 ÷ 3 ≈ 3.67. In Weinberg, though, X, Y and N count as F’s when your GPA is checked for getting off probation.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your Northwestern 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.
