One of my classes is worth 5 credit hours. How is my gpa calculated?

Question

Is a class that is worth 5 credit hours count more than a 3 credit course? Meaning, if i make a B in a 3 credit course which is a 3.0, is that B in that 5 credit course worth a 3.0 too, or is it worth more? Thanks.

Answer 1

In college think in terms of quality points. Quality points is the number of hours x the grade

So an A in a 1 hour class is 4 (1 x 4.0) quality points but a B in a 5 hour class is 15 (5x3.0) quality points.

Your GPA is total hours completed/total quality points

In this way you see that the impact of that 5 hour class is far more than of the 1 hour.

Let's say we take two classes and get an A in one and a B in the other.

In HS that was likely a 3.5 and we're happy. (4+3) / 2

In college, if that A was in a 1 hour and the B in a 5 hour; we have a 3.166 -- not as happy. :-( (1x4)+(5x3) / 6

Answer 2

Yes, take the number grade times the number of hours. Do that for all classes and add the them up and divided by total hours to get you GPA of that semester.


But, if you take Sum( class hours * number grade) compared with class hours *number grade for a particular course...

Take the ratio. Then you will see how much you more hour courses effect your grade.

Your example is too easy your grade would be a B.

Consider this

B in 3 hr course: (cr. hour)*(number grade) = 3*3 = 9
A in 5 hr course: (cr. hour)*(number grade) = 5*4 = 20

Total GPA for 8 hr semester (9 + 20)/8 = 3.63 is pretty much a A-.

5 hr. course weight: 20/29 = .69
3 hr. course weight: 9/29 = .31

Lets reverse it.

A in 3 hr course: (cr. hour)*(number grade) = 3*4 = 12
B in 5 hr course: (cr. hour)*(number grade) = 5*3 = 15

Total GPA for 8 hr semester (12 +15)/8 = 3.38 is pretty much a B+.

5 hr. course weight: 15/27 = .56
3 hr. course weight: 12/27= .44

Yeah it is that easy, but different colleges/universities use different values for the +/- letter grades. So, contact the dean's office.