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​​How to do a GPA Calculation

Some majors have a GPA minimum in order for a student to be accepted by the major. For example, most students who achieve a 3.0 GPA or higher are admitted to the College of Business, although some students closer to 3.0 may not gain acceptance to their first choice specialization.


Alternatively, many competitive majors have a GPA minimum, but have an average GPA for students accepted that is much higher. For example, the majors in the School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences have a minimum GPA of just 2.5, but the average GPA for student accepted to the School is well above 3.0.


Make sure that you fully research what GPA is likely to make you a strong candidate for the major, in addition to researching what other factors will help your application. Once you have a goal for your cumulative GPA, you can use a GPA calculator to tell you how long it will take you to achieve your goal GPA and what grades you’ll need to get there.


Before heading to the GPA calculator, you’ll need to know you current cumulative hours at OSU and your current cumulative GPA. You can find both of these statistics on your Student Center. In the example shown below, the student has 12.68 OSU credit hours attempted (or “Units taken toward GPA”) and has a 3.384 GPA.

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Equipped with this information, you can now visit a GPA Calculator to set your goals. Let’s say that the student from the example is interested in the Nursing major, and would like to set a cumulative GPA goal of 3.71, the average GPA for admitted Nursing students. In the calculator, the student will enter 12.68 as the current total number of hours, 3.384 as the current GPA, and 3.71 as the desired GPA. This student typically takes 15 credit hours per term, so we will assume this pace going forward toward his goals. When the student calculates his path toward his goal, he can see that a 4.0 in one term will result in achieving his goal. Likewise, two terms of a 3.9 GPA and he’ll reach his goal. The scary thing for this student is that a 3.7 GPA, which is an A-minus average, or anything lower going forward will not help him reach his goal (“IMP”=impossible). For this student, a GPA calculation will reinforce the importance of finding a less competitive back-up plan for his “Plan A” major of Nursing.

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Try a calculation using your current GPA and number of credit hours and target GPA…. Now that you’ve seen what it will take to reach your target GPA, use the Clickable Resource homepage to begin looking for a good back-up plan.