 | University of Virginia record February, 1911 |  |
ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS.
Regular Students.—Candidates for the degree (Bachelor of Laws)
must have attained the age of eighteen years before entering the department,
must produce a certificate of good character from the school last
attended or other satisfactory source, and must conform to the general
requirements of the university as follows:
For Admission to the Department of Law the candidate must offer
fourteen units as specified below; of these three must be in English,
three in Mathematics, one in History, and the residue selected at will.
The Subjects accepted for Admission and their values in units are
given in tabulated form on the following page. The applicant for admission
may enter either by certificate or by examination.
For Admission by Certificate the candidate must file with the dean
of the university not later than September first a Certificate of Preparation,
made out on the blank form furnished by the university. This
certificate must come from some recognized institution of collegiate rank
or from an accredited high school, but admission by certificate from
accredited public high schools in Virginia shall be extended only to
graduates from four-year high schools. It must bear in all cases the
signature of the head of the school; must specify the character and content
of each course offered for entrance credit; must give the length of time
devoted to the course, and the dates of the examinations; and must give
the candidate's grades in percentages. Each unit in the entrance requirements
is the equivalent of one full year of high-school work, including
five periods a week of at least forty minutes each during not less than
thirty-six weeks, For schools in which the number of periods given to
any study, or the length of the period, is below the standard here specified,
the credit for such study will be reduced pro rata. In the scientific
subjects two hours of laboratory instruction will be counted as the
equivalent of one hour of recitation. High school courses in Physics and
Chemistry, otherwise adequate, will be allowed half credit, when individual
laboratory work is not done by the student or is not attested by proper
note-books filed with the certificate. Certificates of preparation from
private tutors will in no case be accepted; students thus prepared must
in all cases take the Entrance Examinations.
For Admission by Examination the candidate must present himself
for test at the University of Virginia in June or in September, according
to the dates given in the Programme of Entrance Examinations, which
may be had by applying to the Registrar. The examinations are held
under the honor system, no paper being accepted unless accompanied by
the usual pledge. All candidates who take their examinations at the
times appointed are tested free of charge. In case of delayed entrance,
where the grounds of postponement are good, the president of the university
may admit the candidate to a special examination, for which an
additional fee of five dollars is charged. The fee is payable in advance
and is in no case returned. Satisfactory certificates as to character and
age are in all cases required.
| Subject | Topics | Units |
| English A | English Grammar and Grammatical Analysis | 1 |
| English B | English Composition and Rhetoric | 1 |
| English C | Critical Study of Specimens of English Literature | 1 |
| English D | History of English and American Literature | 1 |
| Mathematics A | Algebra to Quadratic Equations | 1 |
| Mathematics B | Quadratics, Progressions and the Binomial Formula | ½ |
| Mathematics C | Plane Geometry | 1 |
| Mathematics D 1 | Solid Geometry | ½ |
| Mathematics D 2 | Plane Trigonometry | ½ |
| History A | Greek and Roman History | 1 |
| History B | Mediæval and Modern European History | 1 |
| History C | English History | 1 |
| History D | American History and Civil Government | 1 |
| Latin A | Grammar, Composition and Translation | 1 |
| Latin B | Cæsar's Gallic War, I-IV; Grammar; Composition | 1 |
| Latin C | Cicero's Orations (6); Grammar; Composition | 1 |
| Latin D | Virgil's Æneid, I-VI; Grammar; Composition | 1 |
| Greek B | Grammar; Composition; Xenophon's Anabasis, I-IV | 2 |
| German | Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 2 |
| French | Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 2 |
| Spanish | Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 2 |
| Science A | Physical Geography | 1 |
| Science B | Inorganic Chemistry | 1 |
| Science C | Experimental Physics | 1 |
| Science D | Botany and Zoölogy | 1 |
| Drawing | Mechanical and Projection Drawing | 1 |
| Shop-Work | Wood-Work, Forging and Machine-Work | 1 |
Special Students.—Applicants for registration who are more than
twenty years old, reckoning from the birthday preceding matriculation,
and desire to enter for the pursuit of special elective courses, must present
adequate proofs of good character and of the needful maturity and training.
Such applicants may then be registered as Special Students, and will
be admitted without formal examination to the privileges of the Law
School, but not as candidates for the degree.
With the admonition that over-zealousness, whereby an ambitious
student is beguiled into the assumption of more work than he can
thoroughly master in a given time, leads to cramming and inaccuracy,
and often to complete failure, the special student is free to select his
own work.
Admission to Advanced Standing.—No credit is given for attendance
at another law school, nor for time spent in private reading. The candidate
for graduation must spend all three years in residence.
Late Entrance.—Registration commences Thursday, September 14,
and the work of the Law School begins promptly on Monday following.
Students are advised that late entrance is a serious hindrance to progress.
The student who enters late must begin his work at the point to which
the work has advanced at the time of his entrance; and credit for three
years' attendance cannot be given unless the student's actual residence
averages at least thirty weeks per session. No registration in absentia
is permissible.
As regards conditions of admission in case of late entrance, reference
is made to the Regulations concerning Registration, as stated on p. 89.
Expenses.—The necessary expenses of a student in the Department
of Law may be estimated at $350 per session of nine months. This
minimum estimate includes all university and tuition fees, board, lodging,
washing and books. An average estimate would be $450 per session,
reckoning board, lodging, washing, and books at a somewhat higher figure.
The University fee applicable to all law students (including those from
Virginia) is $40; and the tuition fee is $100 for the regular work of each
session. For Special Students who desire to take selected courses, the
tuition fee is estimated according to the ratio which the work chosen
bears to the whole.
Three Years' Course.—The course of study embraces three years of
thirty-six weeks each, exclusive of holidays. Residence, for three years,
with an average attendance of at least thirty weeks a year, exclusive of
holidays, is essential to graduation.
Plan of Instruction—The course is planned with a view to acquaint
the student familiarly and practically with the principles of his profession.
and principle, rather than upon memory; it being considered better that
the student follow principle to its legitimate conclusion, though this be
at variance with the decisions of the courts, than that he should arrive
at a faultless result by the exercise of memory or by accident.
The instruction is as thorough as possible, and is given partly
through text-books and lectures, and partly through the study of cases.
While convinced of the value of the combined text-book and lecture
system, which has prevailed for more than half a century in the Law
School, and from which, in the inauguration of the more extended course,
it is not meant in any wise to depart, the Law Faculty have long appreciated
the value which the study of cases possesses, in illustrating the
practical application of legal principles, and in forcing the student to
extract for himself the doctrine which the cases establish. The enlargement
of the course gives opportunity for more emphasis upon this form
of instruction, and the case-book will, therefore, be used more extensively
than heretofore—not as supplanting, but as supplementing, the text-book
and lecture.
The daily oral quiz has long been a marked and, as experience has
proved, a most valuable feature of the system of instruction. As cross-examination
exposes error and develops truth, so the daily quiz enables
the instructor to discover and rectify misconception of legal principles on
the part of the student.
This oral quiz is now supplemented by frequent written tests, the
results of which are carefully recorded, and are considered in estimating
the grade of the student in the final examinations.
Required for Graduation.—The degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL. B.)
is conferred upon such students as have attained the age of twenty-one
years; have satisfied the entrance requirements; have attended three full
sessions of the Law School; and have successfully passed the required
examinations, with satisfactory performance of assigned practical work.
More specifically, the candidate for graduation must have completed
all of the obligatory courses (see Outline of Courses, below), the credit
value of which is six hundred (600) units, and elective courses of at least
the credit value of two hundred and fifty (250) units—or a total of eight
hundred and fifty (850) units. It follows that of the courses termed
`elective,' a required minimum are in fact obligatory—the candidate being
permitted to exercise an election among them.
Candidates for the degree, who in any session have less than one
full year's course to complete, may be required to take such additional
work, and to stand such additional examinations, as shall be prescribed.
| University of Virginia record February, 1911 | |