How to choose selectives (ME Selectives, Technical Selectives, and Gen Eds)

PLEASE NOTE: this applies to students who entered the School of Mechanical Engineering FALL 2025 OR AFTER. If you entered BEFORE Fall 2025, please see your respective lists of ME Electives, Tech Electives, and Gen Eds.

As part of the ME Plan of Study, you have the options to choose selective courses that you are interested in. Here's how to choose the selectives that are right for you.

FYE Selectives (Oral Communication, Written Communication, Science)

As part of the Univeristy's core curriculum, all students must take at least one class in Oral Communication (OC), Written Communication (WC), and Science (SCI) respectively. You must take these during your First-Year Engineering period, because they are prerequisites for all ME classes that follow.

Options for Oral Communication (OC) and Written Communication (WC) classes can be found here.

Only a handful of Science (SCI) selectives are approved for the ME Curriculum. They are:

  • CHM 11610 - General Chemistry II (3 crs) + CHM 11620/11630 Lab (1 cr)
  • CS 15900 - Programming Applications for Engineers  (3 crs)
  • BIOL 11000 - Fundamentals of Biology I  (4 crs)
  • BIOL 11100 - Fundamentals of Biology II  (4 crs)
  • BIOL 13100 - Biology II: Development, Structure, and Function of Organisms  (3 crs)

Mechanical Engineering Selectives

Your plan of study requires six credit hours of Mechanical Engineering selectives, usually taken in your later semesters. ME selectives are any non-required 300-, 400-, or 500-level course offered by the Purdue University School of Mechanical Engineering. Check the course catalog to see what ME selectives are being offered in your chosen semester.

Technical Selectives

Your plan of study requires nine credit hours of Technical Selectives, usually taken in your later semesters. Technical Selectives are any course, 200-level or above, offered by Purdue University in the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. ME courses qualify as Tech Selectives, but if you use one to apply to your core degree, you cannot use it as a Tech Selective.

  • Technical Selectives cannot be duplicates of other courses taken as part of the BSME degree.

General Education Selectives

General Education selectives (Gen Eds) are any course offered by Purdue University outside of the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. Students are required to take 18 credit hours of Gen Eds.

  • The 18 credit hours of Gen Eds must include:
    • An Economics Selective (ECON 251 Microeconomics or ECON 252 Macroeconomics)
    • and a Humanities Selective (see approved list).
  • No more than 12 credit hours of Gen Eds can be taken in one department.
  • At least 6 credit hours must be upper-level Gen Eds, meaning they are at the 300-level or above, or at the 100- or 200-level with a required prerequisite in the same department.

Free Elective

The Free Elective (three credit hours) is very easy to satisfy:

  • Additional General Education Electives or Technical Electives can be used for free elective credit.
  • Excess introductory engineering electives can be used for the free elective.
  • ROTC courses may be used for free elective credit.
  • Undistributed credits can count here, as well.