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Nursing prerequisite GPA calculator

Enter your prerequisite courses, credits and grades. You get your prerequisite GPA, your science GPA, and the grades you need in the courses you have left to reach a target.

The list starts with eight common prerequisites. Change the names, credits and the Science box to match the list your own program publishes. Leave the grade as “Not yet” for a course you have still to finish.

How the calculator works

A GPA is a weighted average. Each course's credits are multiplied by the grade points for the grade you earned, the results are added up, and the total is divided by the credits. The calculator uses the conventional 4.0 scale with plus and minus grades:

GradePointsGradePointsGradePoints
A4.0B-2.7D+1.3
A-3.7C+2.3D1.0
B+3.3C2.0D-0.7
B3.0C-1.7F0.0

If your college does not record plus and minus grades, choose the plain letters. Where your transcript prints a different scale, the key on the transcript is the one that counts.

A worked example

CourseCreditsGradeCredits times points
Anatomy and Physiology I4B+13.2
Microbiology4A-14.8
Statistics3B9.0
English Composition3A12.0
Total1449.0

49.0 divided by 14 credits is a prerequisite GPA of 3.50. The two science courses alone are 28.0 over 8 credits, a science GPA of 3.50.

Which GPA a nursing program looks at

Usually more than one, and they are not the same number:

  • Prerequisite GPA. Only the courses the program requires before admission. This is what the calculator's first figure is.
  • Science GPA. The science prerequisites alone. Many programs set a separate minimum for it.
  • Cumulative GPA. Every college course you have taken. Your transcript already shows this one.

Which of these a program uses, and what it counts as science, is on its admissions page. Read that list before you trust any calculator, this one included.

The other half of the application

Most programs weigh an entrance exam beside the GPA, and for many that exam is the TEAS. A GPA changes slowly, one finished course at a time. A TEAS score can move in a few weeks of directed study, which makes it the part of an application you still control. See what TEAS score programs ask for, or take the free diagnostic to see where you stand.

Questions

How is a prerequisite GPA calculated?

Multiply each course’s credits by the grade points for the grade you earned, add those up, and divide by the total credits. A 4-credit course moves your GPA more than a 3-credit one, in either direction.

What is a science GPA?

The same calculation over your science prerequisites only. Anatomy and physiology, microbiology and chemistry are the usual ones. Programs draw the line differently, some counting nutrition or statistics, so use the list your own program publishes.

Do repeated courses count?

It depends on who is calculating. NursingCAS, the shared application many nursing programs use, includes every attempt of a repeated course in the GPAs it reports, whatever your college’s own forgiveness policy says. A program that reviews transcripts itself may take the most recent or the highest attempt instead.

In the calculator, add each attempt as its own row if every attempt counts, or only the one that counts if it replaces the others.

What GPA do I need for nursing school?

There is no national number. Each program publishes its own minimum, and programs with more applicants than seats admit well above it. Check the admissions page of each program you are applying to.

Is anything I enter saved or sent anywhere?

It stays in your browser. The list is kept on this device so it is still here when you come back, and “Start over” clears it.

More free tools

TEAS study plan generatorA week-by-week plan from your test date and the hours you actually have.TEAS score calculatorYour composite and preparedness level from four section scores.Anatomy and physiology practice quizTEAS-level questions with a worked explanation under every one.Medical terminology quizPrefixes, roots and suffixes, asked both ways round.

Your GPA moves one course at a time. Your TEAS score can move in weeks.

Most programs weigh both. The free diagnostic shows where you stand on the TEAS today and what to study first. Thirty questions, about twenty minutes.

The free TEAS 7 diagnostic

Questions
30, across all four sections
Time
About 20 minutes
Your report
Score, gap and study order
Cost
$0
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