Understand your grades
Short, specific answers to the questions a calculator alone can’t explain. Every guide has a worked example and links to the right tool.
Why doesn’t my grade match my school’s gradebook?
Your calculated grade and Canvas, Blackboard or PowerSchool disagree? Check these five things in order: included assignments, category weights, drop rules, rounding and future work.
Does ungraded work count as zero?
Ungraded work should not count as zero unless your instructor recorded a zero. Learn the difference between not graded yet, missing, and excused, with a worked example.
How does dropping the lowest quiz affect your grade?
A drop policy removes your lowest score and its points from a category before the grade is calculated. See exactly how it changes your grade, with equal and unequal point examples.
How many points do I need to pass?
Required points = passing percentage × total possible points − points already earned. Worked 800-point example, what to do when the target is out of reach, and when you have already passed.
Make your syllabus make sense
A five-step check for reading any syllabus grading policy: grading method, unknown vs. missing work, special rules, building a complete plan, and confirming the official result.
How to calculate a weighted grade (with examples)
Weighted grade = sum of (category percentage × category weight) ÷ sum of weights. Step-by-step method, a three-category worked example, and the mistakes that throw the answer off.
How to calculate a grade percentage
Grade percentage = points earned ÷ points possible × 100. Quick examples (42/50 = 84%), how to combine several assignments, and how to round correctly.
Grading scale: what percentage is an A, B, C, D or F?
The standard US 10-point grading scale with plus/minus breakpoints, how it maps to a 4.0 GPA, and why your syllabus can override all of it.
What is a passing grade?
A passing grade is usually 60% (D) in US high schools and 70% (C) for many college majors, but the real answer is in your syllabus and program handbook. How to check, and how to plan for it.
How to raise your grade: a plan that uses the math
Where the biggest gains actually come from: assignments with the most remaining weight, missing work, drops you haven’t used, and the final. A step-by-step plan with the numbers behind it.
Extra credit and your grade: how it really counts
Extra credit adds to the points you earned without adding to the points possible. Learn how bonus points work in points and weighted courses, and when a cap stops them.
GPA vs. percentage: what each one measures
A percentage measures one course; a GPA averages letter grades across courses using credit hours. How the conversion works on a 4.0 scale, and why a grade calculator stops at the course.
Grade calculator glossary
Plain definitions of the terms a grade calculator uses: weighted grade, category, drop lowest, excused, missing, ungraded, cap, extra credit, target, projection and more.