ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS
Suggestions as to Preliminary Education.—Prospective law students, and
their parents or guardians, are admonished that the law is peculiarly an intellectual
profession, and for its successful prosecution, whether in a law
school or in the broader fields of professional life, demands a well-trained
mind. If it be true that untrained recruits, in rare instances, under diligent
and persistent effort, develop into successful practitioners after entrance upon
the practice, such exceptional cases but serve to illustrate the rule that out
of a given number of candidates entering upon the study of law, those with
sound preliminary training will have incomparably the advantage, while those
without such training are likely never to rise above mediocrity in their profession.
The experience of all law teachers is that the standing and progress of
law students may, in general, be measured by their academic preparation.
Moreover, sound academic training tends to develop and to refine the ethical
sense so necessary to an honorable career at the bar. It is this consideration
that has been, in large measure, the motive of the Association of American
Law Schools, and of the national and State bar associations of America, to
stress, as these have been doing for some years, the need of a higher educational
standard for students proposing to enter upon the study of the law.
Students are therefore urged not to begin their legal studies before completion
of an academic course approximating that required for a baccalaureate
degree. So high a standard, however, is not as yet exacted as a condition of
entrance into the Law School. These conditions are shown in the following
sections.
1. Regular Students.—Candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Laws
must have attained the age of nineteen years (counting to the nearest birth-day)
before entering the department, must produce a certificate of good
character from the school or college last attended, or from other satisfactory
source, and must conform to the general requirements following:
Entrance Credits.—In addition to the completion of an approved high
school course of four years, or its equivalent, the candidate must present
evidence that for two years at least he has pursued, as a resident, in a
standard college, courses acceptable toward a baccalaureate degree, of which
he must have successfully completed at least 30 session-hours, or 60 semester-hours.
A session-hour is one hour a week of recitation, or two hours a week
of laboratory work, throughout the college year.
Credit will be given for completed courses only. A completed course is
one for which the student is entitled to final credit toward a baccalaureate
degree from the institution in which the work was done, without further
pursuit of that course.
Applications for Admission.—Applications for admission must be submitted
upon forms which will be supplied by the Dean of the Law School.
Such applications, with satisfactory evidence of the required entrance
credits, should be filed in the Dean's office not later than September 1.
An applicant for admission from outside Virginia may be required to
supplement his application by an interview with representatives of the University.
Any applicant whose pre-law college record is not considered satisfactory
by the Committee on Admissions, from the standpoint of scholarship, may
be denied admission, or admitted only on Probation, even though such applicant
has completed the entrance credits required.
Courses Not Acceptable for Admission.—A candidate shall present at
least 30 session-hours (or 60 semester-hours, or their equivalent) of college
work, taken in a school approved by standard regional accrediting agencies,
and exclusive of credit earned in non-theory courses in Military Science,
Hygiene, Domestic Arts, Physical Education, Vocal or Instrumental Music,
or other courses without intellectual content of substantial value. This requirement
conforms to the rules of the Association of American Law Schools.
Recommended Pre-Law Courses.—The following subjects are recommended
as desirable pre-law courses: English, Latin, a Modern Foreign
Language, History, a Natural Science, Mathematics, Political Science, Accounting,
Economics, Psychology, Philosophy, and Public Speaking.
Evidence of the Required High School and College Work.—Evidence of
the required entrance credits must be in the form of a certificate, properly
authenticated by the Registrar or other authorized official of the institution
at which the college work was done. Such certificate must indicate, in addition
to the high school units offered for admission, the college courses completed,
the grades received, the time devoted to each course, and the credit,
in session- or semester-hours, at which each such course is valued toward a
baccalaureate degree.
No Conditioned Students.—Candidates for admission who have not completed
the required 30 session-hours will not be admitted with the privilege
of making up the deficiency.
No Advanced Standing.—No advanced standing or other credit is given
for attendance at another law school, nor for time spent in private reading.
The candidate for graduation must spend three years in residence, pursue
all required courses in the curriculum, and pass all regular examinations
therein.[2]
Admission of Women.—With the beginning of the session of 1920-1921,
women were admitted to the Law School for the first time. The conditions
of their admissions are the same as in the case of male applicants.
2. Special Students.—A limited number of applicants who are at least 23
years old and who present proper evidence of good character and of needful
maturity and training, though unable to fulfil the foregoing entrance
requirements, may, by special action of the Law Faculty, and only in exceptional
cases, be admitted as special students, and not as candidates for the
degree.[3]
The applicant for admission as a special student is required to make
written application to the Dean of the Law School, on a blank furnished
for the purpose, with detailed information as to his age, general habits, his
educational and business experience, and his general fitness to undertake the
study of law, with a statement of reasons why he was unable to qualify as
a regular student. Such application, together with such testimonials as may
be required, must be filed with the Dean not later than September 1 of the
year in which the applicant desires to enter.
Every such applicant for admission as a special student must (if required)
pass a satisfactory examination, to be held at the University during the
registration days of the session. The examination, which will be conducted
by a committee of the Law Faculty, may include the subjects of English,
American and English History, and Civil Government.
