AOE DEPARTMENT ELECTIVE POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS

For students graduating in calendar year 2007

AOE students have several types of electives required in their program of study. Listed below are departmental, College and University requirements governing those electives.

CORE CURRICULUM ELECTIVES: Satisfaction of Core Curriculum requirements is required of all students in the university. Engineering students satisfy core requirements in Areas 1, 4, and 5 through curricular math, science and English courses. Areas 2, 3, 6, and 7 are satisfied through elective courses; 6 credits are required in Areas 2 and 3, 1 credit in Area 6 and 3 credits in Area 7. The one course required for Area 7 may, if carefully selected, simultaneously satisfy an Area 2 or 3 requirement. Several courses appear on both the Area 2 and Area 6 lists but can be used to satisfy only one of these requirements. Area 7 is the only area in which a course may "double count". The Core Writing Intensive requirement will be met by taking the required senior level design courses (AOE 4065 and 4066) in the major. All Core Curriculum requirements must be met with courses taken on an A/F basis.

The core curriculum is continually changing and students are subject to the requirements in place at the time they entered the university (this is not true for other university and college requirements which are subject to reasonable change after a student enters). The University Core Curriculum Guide may be found at www.provost.vt.edu and at www.uaac.vt.edu/coreguides/index.html.Each year, courses are added to or removed from each Area. A course may be used to satisfy an Area if it appears on the list of approved courses for that Area during the year it was taken.

ECON 2005 is required for graduation and may be taken as one of the two Area 3 requirements in the University Core Curriculum. ISE 2014 may also be used to satisfy this requirment but this does not count towards area 3 and this may require additional credits for graduation. However if a student has already satisfied area 3, ISE 2014 may be an attractive option.

MATH ELECTIVE: All AE students must take either Math 4574 or Math/AOE 4404 or Statistics 4705 on an A/F basis. (Statistics 4705 is required for OE majors.)

TECHNICAL ELECTIVES: The AOE Department requires 9 credits of technical electives, all of which must be taken on an A/F basis. This includes 6 credits of AOE courses at the 3000 level or above and 3 credits from the list below. Students pursuing both AE and OE majors will fill all technical elective requirements with required courses from their second major. Courses other than those below may be acceptable as technical electives; however any substitutions must be approved by the student's course advisor before the course is taken. AOE: Any 3000 or higher level course not required in the student's major.

FREE ELECTIVES: May be any course you care to take including PE, ROTC, Band, etc. Free electives do not need to fit any criteria and do not need to be approved by your advisor. They are literally anything you want to take - all you need are the credit hours (you need a total of 136 to graduate). If you have transfer credits or AP credit that did not satisfy one of your curriculum requirements, these will work as free elective credits. Free electives may be taken on a P/F basis provided the student meets the requirements for taking courses P/F and the course is offered on that basis.

AOE ELECTIVE CHECK SHEET

AE and OE majors are required to take 34 credits of electives. This includes nine credits of technical electives, a three credit Math elective (OE majors must take Stat 4705 as their math elective), and twenty two other credits including Areas 2, 3, 6, and 7 of the University Core Curriculum and three to eight credits of "free electives". All electives except "free electives" must be taken for a grade unless the course is offered P/F only.

TECHNICAL ELECTIVES: Six credits must be 3000 level or higher AOE courses which are not otherwise required in the student's major and three credits can be 3000 level or higher courses in or out of AOE from the AOE Technical Elective List.

NOTE: AOE students pursuing a double major will use required courses from their second major to fill the above elective slots

MATH ELECTIVE: MATH 4574, AOE 4404, OR STAT 4705 (STAT 4705 is required for Ocean Engineering majors)

CORE, COMPUTER, AND FREE ELECTIVES:

AOE Student Affairs 

Virginia Tech Department of Aerospace & Ocean Engineering
215 Randolph Hall, Blacksburg VA, 24061
(540) 231-6611 Fax: (540) 231-9632