 | The University of Virginia record February 1, 1918 |  |
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 or college last attended,
or from other satisfactory source, and must conform to the general requirements
following:
For Admission to the Department of Law the candidate must offer
fifteen units, of which three must be in English and one in History.
Notice is given that an additional requirement of one year of work in a
standard college will become effective with the beginning of the session of
1919-20.
The Subjects accepted for Admission and their values in units are given
in tabulated form on page 155. The applicant for admission may 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 1 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 of 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 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 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 | Grammar and Grammatical Analysis | 1 |
| English B | Composition and Rhetoric | 1 |
| English C | Critical Study of Specimens of English Literature | 1 |
| English D | Critical Study of Specimens of English Literature | 1 |
| Mathematics A1 | Algebra to Quadratic Equations | 1 |
| Mathematics A2 | Quadratics, Progressions and the Binomial Formula | ½ or 1 |
| Mathematics B | Plane Geometry | 1 |
| Mathematics C | Solid Geometry | ½ |
| Mathematics D | Plane Trigonometry | ½ |
| History A | Greek and Roman History | 1 |
| History B | Medieval 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 | Caesar'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 A | Elementary Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| Greek B | Xenophon's Anabasis, I-IV; Grammar; Composition | 1 |
| Greek C | Homer's Iliad, I-III; Grammar; Composition | 1 |
| German A | Elementary Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| German B | Intermediate Grammar, Composition and Translation | 1 |
| German C | Third-Year Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| German D | Fourth-Year Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| French A | Elementary Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| French B | Intermediate Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| French C | Third-Year Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| French D | Fourth-Year Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| Spanish A | Elementary Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| Spanish B | Intermediate Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| Spanish C | Third-Year Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| Spanish D | Fourth-Year Grammar, Composition, and Translation | 1 |
| Science A | Physical Geography | 1 |
| Science B | Inorganic Chemistry | 1 |
| Science C | Experimental Physics | 1 |
| Science D | Botany | ½ |
| Science E | Zoölogy | ½ |
| Science F | Agriculture (special schools) | 2 |
| Drawing | Mechanical and Projection Drawing | 1 |
| Shop-Work | Wood-work, Forging, and Machine-work | 1 |
Special Students.—An applicant who is at least 23 years old, and who
presents proper evidence of good character, and of needful maturity and training,
though unable to fulfill the foregoing entrance requirements, may, by special
action of the Law Faculty, in exceptional cases, be admitted as a special student,
and not as a candidate for the degree.
Every applicant for admission as a special student shall make written application
to the Dean of the University, 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. Such application,
together with such testimonials as may be required, must be filed with
the Dean of the University not later than September 1 of the year in which the
applicant desires to enter the Law School. For good cause shown, the requirement
as to the time of filing such application may be waived.
Every such applicant for admission as a special student must 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.
This regulation is subject to the general university regulation as to delayed
entrance examinations.
Special students who fail to complete 60 per cent of the work taken during
any session may be declared ineligible for readmission the following session.
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.
The Session begins on the Thursday preceding the nineteenth of September,
and continues for thirty-nine weeks. The first three days of the session are
given to registration, and all students, both old and new, are required during that
time to place their names upon the books of the University and the rolls of their
respective classes. Lecture courses begin on the following Monday, and absences
will be recorded against any student not present from the opening lecture of
each course. Students entering after the first three days, without satisfactory
excuse, will be charged a fee for registration.
Late Entrance.—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 several courses have 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.
Expenses.—The necessary expenses of a student in the Department of
Law may be estimated at $425 per session of nine months. This minimum
estimate includes all university and tuition fees, board, lodging, washing and
books. An average estimate would be $500 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
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
attendance of at least thirty weeks a year, exclusive of holidays, is essential to
graduation.
Plan of Instruction.—The instruction is as thorough as possible, and is
given partly through textbooks 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, the
Law Faculty have long appreciated the value that 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 recent
enlargement of the course gives opportunity for more emphasis on this form of
instruction, and the case-book will, therefore, be used more extensively than
heretofore—not as supplanting, but as supplementing, the textbooks 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.
Practical Work.—In the course on Equity Procedure, Virginia Pleading,
Practice at Law, 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 encountered in actual litigation. In the course on Legal Bibliography and
Brief Making, an intimate acquaintance with law books and skill in their use
are secured by oral and written quizzes, and finally by practical tests; and
briefs on assigned topics are required to be prepared according to rigorous
standards. Much practical work is done in the headnoting of cases on scientific
principles.
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), and at least two
elective courses, one of which must be either the course in Virginia Pleading or
that in Code Pleading.
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.
| The University of Virginia record February 1, 1918 | |