A 1.2 GPA is closest to a D+, between a D (1.0) and a D+ (1.3) on the commonest American plus/minus 4.0 scale; College Board's high-school chart, which records whole letters only, puts a D at 66 to 69%, and a 1.2 is below the 2.0 under which UMBC places a student on academic probation. That reading holds only on the scale it is calculated on: the same B+ is worth 3.3 at some institutions in this index, 3.33 at others, 3.3333 at one and 3.5 at one with no minus grades, so a 1.2 earned in one place is not the same work as a 1.2 earned in another.
1.2 GPA meaning: the grades that produce it
On a plus/minus 4.0 scale a 1.2 is roughly mostly D+ with some D, weighted by credit hours rather than by course count. Oregon State states the arithmetic in the clearest published form on this shelf, printing its table as grade points per credit rather than as a bare lookup, which is why a three-credit course moves the average three times as far as a one-credit one. Nothing about that calculation is national: it is your institution's.
The same number on a different scale
South Carolina prints a scale with no minus grades, where a B+ is 3.5 rather than 3.3. Arizona State records an A+ at 4.33 while capping the cumulative average at 4.00. Memphis prints an A- at 3.84 where almost everyone else prints 3.67 or 3.7. A transcript producing 1.2 at one of those institutions would produce a different figure at the others on identical work, which is the single most useful thing to know before comparing your number with anyone else's.
Academic standing, not admissions
Below a 2.0 most institutions place a student on academic probation, and the published rules are on the registrar's site rather than in any general guide. The number to find is your own institution's minimum cumulative average for good standing, the period you have to recover it, and whether a repeated course replaces the original grade or is averaged with it. That last policy moves a low average faster than anything else available to you.
Other questions people ask
Is 1.2 a good GPA?
No, not against any published rule in this index: UMBC places a student whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.0 on academic probation, and a 1.2 is under that line. The rule that decides it for you is your own institution's minimum for good standing, printed on its registrar's or advising office's pages, with the time you have to recover.
Is a 1.2 GPA bad?
Yes, against every published rule in this index: UMBC places a student whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.0 on academic probation, and a 1.2 is well under that line. How bad it is for you depends on your own institution's minimum for good standing and its repeat policy, both printed on its registrar's pages.
What is a 1.2 GPA in letter grades?
On a plus/minus 4.0 scale, roughly mostly D+ with some D. On a scale without minus grades the mix is different, and on a scale recording an A+ above four it is different again.
What does a 1.2 GPA mean?
A 1.2 GPA means a grade point average of 1.2 on the scale it was calculated on. On the commonest American plus/minus 4.0 scale that is closest to a D+, averaged over every graded course and weighted by credit hours. The same 1.2 on another institution's scale is different work, so your registrar's own table is the one that governs it.
Does a 1.2 mean the same everywhere?
No. A transcript line reading "GPA: 1.2" means only what that institution's scale says it means, and the scales differ. Two institutions in this index price a B+ 0.2 of a grade point apart, 3.3 at one and 3.5 at the other, which over a full transcript is worth more than the width of most honours bands.