Find out exactly what score you need on your final exam to hit your target grade for the class.
Your overall grade is a weighted average of your coursework so far and the final exam:
Overall = Current Grade × (1 − w) + Final Score × w, where w is the final's weight as a decimal.
Solving for the final score you need:
Needed = (Target − Current × (1 − w)) ÷ w
Example: you have an 85% going in, the final is worth 30%, and you want a 90% overall. Needed = (90 − 85 × 0.7) ÷ 0.3 = 101.7% — not possible without extra credit, so an 89% overall (needing 98.3%) might be a more realistic target.
The weight of the final tells you where to spend your remaining effort. A final worth 15% can only move your grade a little — if you're at 88%, even a perfect final caps you near 89.8%. A final worth 50% is effectively half your grade, and a strong performance can rescue a rough semester. Once grades are in, use our GPA calculator to see how the course affects your overall GPA.
Required final score = (target grade − current grade × (1 − final weight)) ÷ final weight. With an 85% current grade, a final worth 30%, and a 90% target, you need (90 − 85×0.7) ÷ 0.3 = 101.7% — so 90% overall isn't reachable.
The final counts for its weight percentage. A final worth 20% can move your overall grade by at most 20 points; a final worth 50% can swing it by half. The higher the weight, the more the exam matters.
Often yes. If your current grade is high enough and the final has a modest weight, even a low final score can leave your overall grade above the passing threshold. The "grade if you score 0%" result shows your floor.
Combine their weights and treat them as one block: if two finals are worth 20% each, enter 40% as the weight and the result is the average score you need across both.