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. There are three categories, and your Plan of Study requires a certain number of each one. Here's how to choose the electives that are right for you.

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.