What do I need on my final to get an A-?
On the common plus-minus scale an A-minus starts at 90%, and it is often the realistic target once a straight A has slipped away. From 89% with a quarter of the grade riding on the final, you need a 93 — demanding, but a different order of difficulty from the A itself, which from here is out of reach.
Common plus/minus convention; many schools use straight letters or different cut points.
You need 93% on the final.
That is within reach — the final is worth 25% of your grade.
🔢 Show the math
- Work graded so far covers 75% of the course; 25% is still to come.
- Points already banked: 89% × 75% = 66.75 points of the 100 available.
- To finish at 90% you still need 23.25 points from the remaining 25%.
- 23.25 ÷ 25 × 100 = 93% on what is left.
What you need, at every current grade
With a final worth 25% of your course grade and an A- (90%) as the goal, this is the score you need on the final from each starting point:
| Current grade | You need on the final | Reachable? |
|---|---|---|
| 93% | 81.0% | Yes |
| 91% | 87.0% | Yes |
| 89% | 93.0% | Yes |
| 87% | 99.0% | Yes |
| 84% | 108.0% | Not with this final alone |
| 80% | 120.0% | Not with this final alone |
Grading scales vary by institution — your school's own table and syllabus govern. Conversions shown here follow common published conventions.
Frequently asked questions
Where does an A- start?
On the widely used plus-minus scale it runs from 90 to 92, with the straight A beginning at 93 and A-plus at 97. Cut points genuinely vary and some schools do not use plus and minus at all, so the scale picker on this page switches the boundaries and your syllabus is the final word.
Does an A- hurt my GPA much?
It is worth 3.7 grade points against an A's 4.0 on the standard scale, so a single A- in a full course load moves a term GPA by around four hundredths. That is real but small — considerably smaller than the anxiety it usually generates.
Should I aim for the A or lock in the A-?
Compute both and compare. From 89% with a final worth a quarter, the A-minus needs 93 while the straight A at 93% would need over 100 — so there is no choice to make here, and the honest answer is to study to clear 93 comfortably rather than chase something arithmetic has already closed.
What if my school does not use plus and minus grades?
Then the only boundary that matters is where the straight A begins, which on a straight-letter scale is usually 90% rather than 93. Set the target to 90 and ignore the A-minus entirely — on that scale there is nothing between the A and the B.
Other targets
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