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All four of Penn’s undergraduate schools use one scale: A+ and A are both 4.0, A− 3.7, B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B− 2.7, C+ 2.3, C 2.0, C− 1.7, D+ 1.3, D 1.0 and F 0.0, and there’s no D−. Your GPA is your grade points times course units, divided by the course units of your graded courses. Only an F counts as zero: a W, a P and an incomplete stay out, though an F in a pass/fail course counts and an incomplete you don’t finish in time becomes an F. A retake never replaces an F: both grades count in your GPA, and in the College a retake of a course you already passed isn’t counted at all.
Penn’s points: A+ 4.00, A 4.00, A− 3.70, B+ 3.30 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
CourseGradeCourse units
Include your earlier GPA
Quality points are the more exact input when the displayed GPA has already been rounded. Do not include these same course units again in the course rows.
Raise my GPA: what would it take to reach a target?
These are future course 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 Penn’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.
Penn’s rules checked in its 2026–27 Undergraduate Catalog, with the College, Wharton, Penn Engineering and Penn Nursing policy pages. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
Grade points at Penn
Penn multiplies each course’s grade points by its course units, adds them up and divides by the course units that count. Enter your courses above with these points already set.
University of Pennsylvania letter grades and grade points
What W, pass/fail, incomplete, retakes and transfer credit do at Penn
A course left out of the GPA adds no points and no course units. In the calculator, choose its code or “Not counted”; a code that counts as zero lowers the GPA like a failing grade.
How Penn counts each code
Code
What it means
In the Penn GPA
F
Failure
Counts 0.0 points, and its course units count in your GPA. It stays in your GPA even after you retake the course and pass, in every school. An F in a course you took pass/fail counts too. In Engineering you can’t graduate with an uncleared F: you must repeat the same or an equivalent course the next time it’s offered. Rule
P
Pass, in a course you chose to take pass/fail (A+ to D)
A passing grade, including a D, becomes a P, which isn’t calculated into your GPA; an F stays an F and counts as 0.0. The limits differ by school. College: at most 8 c.u., and not for a Foundational Approach, Sector, major or minor requirement. Wharton: at most three courses, not in your first semester, one a semester (two in your final semester if you’ve used only one). Engineering: four course units in total. Nursing: up to four courses, one a semester. In the College you can switch grade mode until the end of the ninth week or just before Advance Registration, whichever comes first (fall 2026 Grade Mode Change Deadline: Friday, October 23). The pages differ for Nursing: its handbook allows grade-mode changes only through the fifth week, while the Catalog calendar’s deadline is October 23. Rule
W
Withdrew
Doesn’t count in your GPA, but stays on your transcript. Until the drop deadline (fall 2026: Monday, October 5) you can drop instead. After that you need your instructor’s permission to withdraw, until the last day to withdraw (fall 2026: Monday, November 2; spring 2027: Monday, April 5). The pages differ on the week: the Catalog says through the end of the tenth full week, the College says through the eleventh week and after that only by petition with documented extenuating circumstances, and Wharton and Nursing say withdrawals after the tenth week aren’t normally permitted. Rule
I
Incomplete
Only your instructor can grant it. It isn’t in your GPA while it stands, but it becomes an F, which counts, if you don’t finish in time. The pages differ on the deadline: the Catalog says you generally have until the fifth week of the next semester, while the College (a short incomplete, by the end of the fourth full week of the next term), Wharton and Nursing (non-clinical courses) say the fourth week. For Penn Engineering courses, from summer 2026 the work is due by the next semester’s Grade Mode Change Deadline, or the F becomes permanent. You can’t graduate with an incomplete on your record. Rule
II
Long (extended) Incomplete
No longer given: since summer 2022 the long incomplete isn’t available as a grading option, so an incomplete follows the deadlines above. Rule
NR or GR
No Grades Reported for Course, or No Grade Reported for Student
No grade has reached the Registrar, so there are no grade points to count until one is posted; GPA hours build up only in graded courses. NRs and GRs must be cleared before you graduate. In Engineering, an NR not updated by the Thursday of the fourth full week of the next fall or spring semester is replaced by an F. Rule
S or U
Satisfactory progress or Unsatisfactory, after the first semester of a two-semester course
A temporary mark, not a final grade: when you finish the second semester, one grade is issued for both semesters and replaces the S or U. Rule
AUD
Audit
Undergraduates can’t officially audit. With the instructor’s approval you may sit in on a course without registering, and it doesn’t appear on your record or in your GPA. Rule
Repeated course
You took the same course again
No Penn school replaces a grade. Retake a course you failed and both the F and the new grade count in your GPA; you get credit once you pass. In the College, if you retake a course you already passed (a P included), the new grade shows on your transcript but isn’t counted in your average and earns no credit. Wharton and Engineering don’t let you retake a course you passed with a D or better; in Wharton, enrolling in it again gets you withdrawn with a W. Nursing allows two attempts at a course, and failing a required course a second time means dismissal. Retaking a course elsewhere doesn’t help: grades from other schools aren’t in your Penn GPA. Rule
Transfer credit
Grades from another college
Credit from other schools joins your Penn record, but the grades don’t appear on your transcript and aren’t used in your GPA. A minimum grade of C is typically required, and some departments, Chemistry for one, need a B− for credit away. After you enroll, credit away is for summer courses only: the College allows no more than 5 c.u. elsewhere and 4 c.u. in one summer, and Engineering allows up to 4 course units. Wharton accepts no pass/fail transfer courses, and its external transfer students can’t take courses away after matriculating except on a Penn-approved study abroad program. Penn-approved study abroad is different: those grades go on your transcript and count in your Penn GPA. Residency: the College requires half your course units and four full-time semesters at Penn, Wharton transfers need 19 course units and four semesters at Penn, and Nursing requires 20 course units at Penn. Rule
Penn GPA lines
These are Penn’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 Penn
GPA line
What it means
Also required
2.0 term and cumulative
Good academic standing in the College
You also may not earn more than one incomplete or F in a term, and you must complete at least 6 c.u. over two consecutive terms (summers not included). If you’re enrolled in more than one undergraduate school, both schools’ standing rules apply. Full rule
Below good standing
Academic Status Alert (College)
To return to good standing you must complete exactly 4 c.u. on time, with no F, I, GR or NR and no more than one pass/fail course, and reach a 2.0 for the term and cumulatively. Full rule
Below 1.7 semester or cumulative
Academic Status Warning (College)
You’re placed on warning if your semester or cumulative GPA is below 1.7. The conditions to return to good standing are the same as for an Alert. Full rule
Two or more Fs in a term
Academic suspension or dismissal (College)
Also possible if you don’t meet the terms for leaving Alert or Warning. A suspension means a year away from Penn, and you may apply for readmission after one full calendar year; a dismissal is permanent. Full rule
2.0 cumulative and 2.0 in the major
Good academic standing in Penn Engineering
“The major” means all your math, science and engineering courses. On probation you can register for no more than 4.5 course units a semester, and if your work stays unsatisfactory you can be dropped. Full rule
Below 2.0 semester GPA, or more than one F (Wharton)
Academic probation (Wharton)
A semester GPA below 2.0, or more than one F in a semester, puts you on probation. The next semester you must take four course units and earn at least a 2.0 term GPA with no I, F, W or GR grades. Full rule
Two semesters below 2.0, or one below 1.50
Drop Warning (Wharton)
The same next-semester conditions apply as on probation. A First Drop means at least a one-year mandatory leave; a Second Drop is permanent. Full rule
1.5 to 2.0 cumulative or term
Academic warning (Nursing)
Good standing in Nursing needs at least a 2.0 and the proper course load without incompletes. Full rule
Below 1.5, or below 2.0 two semesters in a row
Academic probation (Nursing)
Either a cumulative or a term GPA counts. You can’t go beyond two consecutive semesters on probation: after the second, you’re dismissed from the School of Nursing if your work still falls within probation standards. Full rule
2.0 cumulative
Minimum GPA to graduate
The College also requires a 2.0 average (or higher, depending on the department) in your major courses. Wharton also requires a 2.5 GPA in the four course units of your concentration. Full rule
3.40 / 3.60 / 3.80 cumulative
Cum laude / magna cum laude / summa cum laude
Fixed GPAs, the same in all four schools, based on the cumulative GPA on your transcript at graduation. A sanction of probation or greater for an integrity or conduct violation makes you ineligible. Nursing’s handbook adds that you need at least 20 course units at Penn. Full rule
None since July 1, 2023
Dean’s List
Penn no longer awards the Dean’s List. The pages differ: the Catalog and the Registrar’s Transcript Key say it has ended, but Nursing’s BSN Handbook still describes a Dean’s List for a 3.70 average over six or more letter-graded courses in an academic year. Full rule
3.0 cumulative and semester
Minimum to apply for study abroad (College)
You must also be in good academic standing; some programs set a higher GPA. 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 Penn a retake doesn’t replace an F. Say you take five 1-course-unit courses, earn an F, an A, an A− and a B+, and withdraw from the fifth: (0 × 1 + 4 × 1 + 3.7 × 1 + 3.3 × 1) ÷ 4 = 11 ÷ 4 = 2.75, and the W doesn’t count. Next term you retake the failed course and earn a B. Both grades stay in your GPA: (0 × 1 + 4 × 1 + 3.7 × 1 + 3.3 × 1 + 3 × 1) ÷ 5 = 14 ÷ 5 = 2.80. If the B had replaced the F, you’d have 14 ÷ 4 = 3.50, but no Penn school does that.
The calculator gives an estimate from the grades you enter. Your official GPA is the one on your Penn 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.
