Exactly what do you need on the final?
You know your homework and midterm; you know the weights. So there is one exact score on the final that gets you the grade you want. Goal Seek runs the formula backwards and hands it to you.
Words on this sheet
- Weighting: How much this item counts against the others.
School Starter Goal Seek free
After you install, this is the model to open.
What Do You Need on the Final?
- In your spreadsheet, click the Sortia icon in the strip of icons down the right-hand edge. No strip? Click the arrow at the bottom-right to open it. You can also use Extensions, then Sortia, then Open Sortia.
- Click Start from a template and put that name in the search box.
- Pick the card with that name and click Load this template. It arrives on a new tab with real numbers already in it.
The answer
Solving the grade formula backwards:
- For an A (90)
- 91.5 on the final
- For a B (80)
- 66.5 on the final
- On track for
- 87 (a B)
- Solve
- exact
You need a 91.5 on the final for an A, or just a 66.5 to lock the B. No more anxious guessing: you know the exact number to aim for. Change the target or your scores and it re-solves instantly. (Its Monte Carlo sibling, What Grade Will You Get?, shows the odds you actually hit it.)
The model
Your course grade is a weighted average of homework, midterm, and the final. Goal Seek finds the final score that makes the course grade hit your target.
| Homework average | 90 |
| Midterm score | 88 |
| Weights (HW / Mid / Final) | 30% / 30% / 40% |
| Target course grade | 90 (an A) |
| Final you need | solved |
Once it is in your sheet
- The model arrives with real numbers in it and runs as it stands, so you can press the button first and understand it second.
- Change the numbers to yours. The sheet marks which cells are inputs and which hold formulas, and most labels carry a note explaining the row.
- Press the run button at the bottom of the panel. It is labeled for the tool you are in, and the result lands on its own tab, with a written reading of it beside the figures.
Never used Google Sheets? Start here goes the whole way, in seven steps, and assumes nothing.
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Every model like this one, and the method behind them: What-if analysis in Google Sheets.