<p>My son, an entering freshman, has credits listed in Degree Works listed under GEC 197 - even though they reduce the number of hours needed in his major - they are not applied anywhere. What can they be applied to - he’s majoring in Engineering. Thanks!</p>
<p>GEC 197 is general elective credit. It counts towards elective requirements for the degree (if any), but not any other requirements.</p>
<p>Thanks Seatide - There are no general elective credits in Engineering - there are fine arts, humanities, language requirements etc… are those electives?</p>
<p>General electives are sometimes used in majors to get the total number of credits up to 120, which is the minimum number of credits a student must earn to get a bachelor’s degree. Some majors, such as all of the engineering majors, require more credits than that and don’t actually have space in the curriculum for electives. I did notice the the College of Engineering refers to the fine arts, humanities, and some other core curriculum requirements as electives. This is somewhat misleading as you have to take courses with those designations, but have a choice between several courses, whereas true electives can have any or no designation.</p>
<p>In short, the credits don’t count towards any requirements, but may help him get earlier course registration and housing selection times in future semesters.</p>