Grade Impact Tool

Assignment Priority Calculator

Find which homework to do first by computing grade points per hour. Organize by weight and time remaining.

Highest Priority Right Now

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How the Score Works

Original Heuristic

This calculator uses a self-contained grade-impact formula, not a cited external method. The priority score is Weight % ÷ Estimated Hours, which estimates grade points per hour of work. Higher scores mean more grade payoff per hour invested.

The priority score answers: "Which assignment will give me the most grade value for each hour I spend?" Assignments with high weight but many hours to complete score lower than shorter assignments worth the same points. Items with zero weight are listed separately since they cannot be ranked by grade impact.

Hours remaining are your estimate — the calculator does not know how long an assignment will actually take. Be honest about scope: if an essay is 5 pages and you write one page per hour, enter 5 hours. If a problem set has 30 problems and you solve two per hour, enter 15 hours.

How to Use

  1. Open Assignment Tracker and add your open assignments with weight (grade %) and due date.
  2. Return here. The calculator reads your tracker list automatically.
  3. For each assignment, enter the hours you estimate will remain when you start. This is not the deadline, but how long the work itself will take.
  4. Watch the priority score update. Rank 1 appears in the console above.
  5. Work on rank 1 first, then 2, 3, and so on — but also check the Urgency badge. An assignment due tomorrow may need to jump the queue even if its score is lower.

Tips & Edge Cases

Two Signals, Not One

Priority score and urgency (days until due) are separate. A low-weight assignment due in 12 hours might have a low score but high urgency — rank it by both, not score alone.

Sanity-Check Your Hours

If your total estimated hours across all open assignments is far more than you have available this week, you may be underestimating time or need to negotiate scope. Use Study Hours Calculator to check whether your estimates fit your schedule.

Update Hours as You Work

Hours remaining is a live estimate. If you work for two hours, reduce the hours estimate by two. The score will recalculate in real time.

Data Lives in Your Browser

Your hours estimates are stored in this browser only (key: cb_plan_priority_hours). Clearing site data, using incognito mode, or switching devices will lose them. Assignment data lives in the tracker (key: cb_plan_tasks), not here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does a high-weight assignment score low?
If an assignment is worth 30% of your grade but will take 20 hours, the score is 30 ÷ 20 = 1.50 points per hour. A 20% assignment that takes 2 hours scores 20 ÷ 2 = 10.00 — much higher. The second assignment gives you more grade points per hour of effort. Do the high-scoring work first, then tackle the longer items.
What if I don't have an estimated due date?
Only assignments with a due date appear in the priority list. If an assignment has no due date, add one in the Assignment Tracker. Even "end of semester" or "end of month" is better than nothing — it helps the calculator show urgency badges.
Can I edit hours directly in the Assignment Tracker?
No. Hours remaining is a priority-calculator-only field; it lives in a separate data store (cb_plan_priority_hours) so it does not interfere with your tracker data. Edit hours here only. The Assignment Tracker stores title, course, due date, weight, and whether an assignment is done.
What if I mark an assignment done in the tracker?
Done assignments drop out of the priority list immediately. The calculator shows only open (done: false) items. You can delete hours data later using the "Clear Saved Hours" button, or they will fade as new assignments take priority.
Does the calculator give me study time breakdowns or optimal session length?
No. It only ranks assignments by grade payoff per hour. To plan how you will use your hours once prioritized, use the Study Hours Calculator (breaks, Pomodoro sessions, weekly capacity). To track actual hours spent, use the Study Tracker.
Can I sync this to my phone or other devices?
Not yet. Data syncs only within the browser that created it. Use the same device, or copy your estimates to a note if you switch devices. We may add cloud sync in a future version.

Sources

This page describes an original client-side calculation, not an external formula or statistic. No citations needed.