A grade point average (GPA) is determined by assigning a point value to a letter grade, then weighting each point value with its number of credit hours. Typically, a GPA scale looks like this:
| Grade | GPA |
|---|---|
| A | 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 |
| D- | 0.7 |
| F | 0.0 |
Multiply the GPA point value by the number of credit hours, add these products, then divide by the total number of credit hours:
\[\frac{\textbf{Total Grade Points}}{\textbf{Total Credit Hours}}\]
1. A student has the following grades and the corresponding credit hours:
| Grade | Credit Hours |
|---|---|
| A | 3 |
| A- | 3 |
| A | 2 |
| C | 4 |
| B- | 4 |
What is this student’s GPA?
The total grade points are
\[\textbf{Total Grade Points } =\] \[4 \cdot 3 + 3.7 \cdot 3 + 4 \cdot 2 + 2 \cdot 4 + 2.7 \cdot 4 =\] \[12 + 11.1 + 8 + 8 + 10.8 =\] \[49.9\]
The total credit hours are
\[\textbf{Total Credit Hours } =\] \[3 + 3 + 2 + 4 + 4 =\] \[16\]
The student’s GPA is
\[\frac{49.9}{16} = 3.11875\]
1. A student has the following grades and the corresponding credit hours:
| Grade | Credit Hours |
|---|---|
| C | 4 |
| C- | 5 |
| B+ | 3 |
| D | 3 |
| B- | 3 |
1. If either of the above student wanted to achieve a GPA of 4.0, how could they do it?
2. Two students have a B average. One student has 20 credit hours, while the other student has 100 credit hours. Both students get a D on their next class. Which student’s grade will go down the most? Why?