Your report-card GPA and your UC admission GPA are two different numbers. UC recalculates yours from scratch, and the rules it uses can swing the result by several tenths of a point. Here's exactly how that calculation works — and how the UC GPA Calculator runs it for you using your school's real, UC-approved course list.
Which courses and years count
UC calculates your GPA using A-G courses taken in 10th and 11th grade only. Ninth-grade and twelfth-grade courses do not count toward the GPA, even though they still matter for meeting subject requirements.
Only A-G coursework is included — the college-preparatory classes UC recognizes across seven subject areas. Non A-G electives are excluded from the calculation.
How grades become points
UC starts every course at a base point value, then adds weight for honors. Each letter grade earns the base points shown here, before any honors bonus is applied.
Plus and minus grades don't change the UC GPA: an A+, A, and A− all count as 4 points.
The three UC GPAs
UC reports three different GPAs, and the calculator shows all three side by side as you enter courses.
Honors weighting
Eligible honors courses earn +1 extra point per semester for grades of A, B, or C (a D or F earns no bonus, even in an honors class).
- California residents: AP, IB, UC-transferable college courses, and UC-certified honors courses are eligible.
- Non-residents: only AP and IB courses are eligible.
The honors caps
UC limits how many bonus points can apply to the Capped Weighted GPA:
- At most 4 honors points from the 10th-grade period (including the summers that count as 10th grade).
- At most 8 honors points total across 10th and 11th grade.
The Fully Weighted GPA ignores these caps and counts every eligible honors point.
A worked example
Say a student took 10 A-G semester courses across 10th and 11th grade and earned all A's (4 points each = 40 base points), and 6 of those were eligible honors courses:
- Unweighted: 40 ÷ 10 = 4.00
- Fully Weighted: (40 + 6) ÷ 10 = 4.60
- Capped Weighted: the cap is 8 bonus points, but only 6 were earned here — so nothing is capped: (40 + 6) ÷ 10 = 4.60.
The caps only reduce your GPA once you exceed 8 eligible honors points (or 4 from 10th grade) — strong students with many AP/honors courses are the ones who see Capped and Fully Weighted diverge.
How the calculator does it for you
Instead of guessing which of your courses are honors-eligible, the calculator pulls your high school's official UC-approved course list, so honors designations are applied automatically and correctly for the catalog year you select.
The calculator applies California-resident honors rules. If you're a non-resident, only AP and IB courses earn the bonus (not UC-certified honors or college courses), and your minimum UC GPA is 3.4 rather than 3.0 — read your result with that in mind.
Click any GPA badge to see exactly how the number is built:
You can also add manual schools or UC-transferable college courses when you need to model transfers, dual enrollment, or a school that is not yet in the catalog. Use the PL status for planned or in-progress courses that should stay in your list without counting toward the GPA yet.
Minimum GPA for eligibility
California residents need a minimum 3.0 UC GPA, and non-residents a minimum 3.4, to meet UC's GPA eligibility requirement. Meeting the minimum is necessary but not sufficient — UC uses holistic review, and you must also complete the A-G subject requirements.
What's next
Your GPA is one piece. To stay on track for admission you also need to complete the A-G subject requirements across all four years — something the 4-Year Course Planner tracks for you automatically, alongside a live view of how your GPA compares to admit ranges at each UC campus.
Note: This calculator follows the official UC GPA calculation guidelines. Always verify your final GPA with your school counselor.