Unless your school allows you to place out of them, these courses are mandatory. Core courses provide broad functional knowledge in one discipline. For example, a core marketing course covers pricing, segmentation, communications, product line planning, and implementation.
Electives provide a narrow focus that deepens the area of study.
For example, a marketing elective might be entirely devoted to pricing. Students sometimes question the need for such a comprehensive core program. But the functional areas of a real business are not parallel lines. All departments of a business affect each other every day. Some schools allow first-years to take core courses side by side with electives.