ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS.
Regular Students.—Candidates for the degree of 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 following:
For Admission to the Department of Law the candidate must
offer fourteen units as specified below; of these three must be in
English, two and one-half 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 either enter (1) by certificate or (2) by examination.
(1) 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 is
extended only to graduates from four-year high schools. The certificate
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.
(2) For Admission by Examination the candidate must present
himself for test at the University 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.
SUBJECTS ACCEPTED FOR ADMISSION.
| 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 D1 |
Solid Geometry |
½ |
| Mathematics D2 |
Plane Trigometry |
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 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 is apt to beguile
an ambitious student into the assumption of more work than he
can thoroughly master in a given time, leading to cramming and
inaccuracy, and often to complete failure, the special student is free
to select his own work, within the limits permitted by the regulation
set out below.
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 three years in residence.
Late Entrance.—Registration commences Thursday, September
11, 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
secured unless the student is in actual residence 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 in General University Catalogue.
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 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. Care is taken to teach him to think for himself,
and to rely upon reason 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 supplemented by frequent written tests, the
results of which are carefully recorded, and, in the professor's discretion,
are considered in estimating the final grade of the student.
Moot Court.—A Moot Court is organized by the students in the
First Year's course for the discussion of legal questions. Its meetings
begin at the opening and continue to the end of the session,
with such interruptions only as are incident to the proximity of the
examinations. Attendance is voluntary, as presence during the debates
is intended to be a privilege and not a burden. But every
candidate for the degree is required to argue at least one case in
the Moot Court. The questions are chosen by the Law Faculty,
one of whom presides over the discussions. Interest and life are
added to the proceedings by the open debate held after the argument,
the presiding judge acting as interlocutor, and leading into
the debate those whom diffidence prompts to silence.
Legal Argumentation.—The addition to the work of the third
year of an advanced course on Legal Argumentation, is contemplated.
If established, the course will be elective for the sessions
1913-1914 and 1914-1915, and obligatory thereafter. Should the plan
mature, this additional course, supplemented by the courses on
Brief-Making and Forensic Debating will probably absorb the present
work of the Moot Court.
Practical Work.—In the courses of Equity Procedure, Virginia
Pleading and Practice, Code Pleading, Criminal Procedure, and Legal
Bibliography and Brief Making, special stress is laid upon practical
work. In the Pleading and Procedure courses, every student is
required to draw, and submit for correction and criticism. all of
the principal pleadings, orders, decrees, and other forms usual in
actual litigation. In the course on Legal Bibliography and Brief
Making, familiarity with Law books and their use is secured by lectures
and demonstrations in the presence of the books, followed by
oral and written quizzes, and finally by practical tests; and briefs
on assigned topics are required to be prepared according to rigorous
standards.
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 eight hundred and four (804) units, and
elective courses of at least the credit value of forty-six (46) units
—or a total of eight hundred and fifty (850) units. It follows that
of the courses termed "elective," a required minimum is in fact obligatory—the
candidate being permitted to exercise an election
among them.
