Drop Lowest Grade Calculator
Enter your grades, choose how many to drop, and see your new average instantly.
Your Grades (%)
Grades to Drop
What Is a Drop Lowest Grade Policy?
A drop lowest grade policy is an arrangement where a professor removes one or more of your worst scores before calculating your final grade. It's most commonly applied to quizzes, homework assignments, or weekly labs. These are categories where grades are collected frequently and one poor performance shouldn't define your overall standing.
This policy is widely used in college courses, particularly in large lecture classes for STEM subjects, introductory courses, and classes with weekly quizzes. The reasoning is straightforward: students have bad days, internet connections fail, and emergencies happen. Dropping a score or two acknowledges that a single result isn't always representative of a student's true understanding.
How Much Can Dropping a Grade Change Your Average?
The impact depends entirely on how much lower your worst score is compared to your other grades. Here are two examples:
- Small impact: If your grades are 88%, 85%, 90%, 87%, and 83%, dropping the lowest (83%) brings your average from 86.6% to 87.5%, less than a 1 point difference.
- Large impact: If your grades are 88%, 85%, 90%, 87%, and 42%, dropping the lowest (42%) brings your average from 78.4% to 87.5%, a jump of over 9 points, potentially changing a C+ to a B+.
The bigger the gap between your worst score and your other grades, the more you benefit from a drop lowest policy.
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter all your grades for the category (quizzes, homework, etc.).
- Select how many lowest grades to drop. Most policies drop 1 or 2.
- The calculator instantly shows your average before and after, along with both letter grades.
If you're not sure how many grades your professor drops, check your course syllabus or gradebook. The number is almost always stated explicitly in the grading policy section.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does dropping the lowest grade mean?
Dropping the lowest grade means your professor removes your worst score before calculating your final average. It's a policy designed to account for a bad day, a difficult test, or a missed assignment without permanently damaging your grade.
How much does dropping the lowest grade help?
It depends on how far below average your lowest score is. If all your grades are similar, the impact is small. If one score is significantly lower than the rest, dropping it can raise your average by several percentage points, sometimes enough to change your letter grade.
How is the new average calculated after dropping a grade?
Your grades are sorted from lowest to highest. The lowest one (or two, or three) are removed. The average is then calculated from the remaining grades only. This calculator does that instantly and shows the difference.
Should I skip an assignment if my professor drops the lowest grade?
Generally, no. Skipping an assignment gives you a 0%, which becomes your lowest grade and gets dropped. But if you then have another bad score, you no longer have a grade to drop. It's almost always better to attempt every assignment and let a genuinely poor score be the one that gets dropped.
Do all professors drop the lowest grade?
No. It's a common policy in college courses, especially for quizzes and homework, but not universal. Always check your course syllabus to confirm whether your professor drops any scores and how many.