University of Virginia Library

ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

Suggestions as to Preliminary Education.— 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 the Law Faculty—indeed, of all law teachers—is, that
the standing and progress of law students may, in general, be measured by
their academic preparation. Students are therefore advised not to begin
their legal studies until they have completed an academic course approximating
that required for a baccalureate 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 birthday)
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, in addition to the completion
of an approved high school course of four years, or its equivalent, the candidate
must present evidence that for at least two years he has pursued in a
standard college courses leading to a baccalaureate degree, of which he
must have successfully completed at least thirty session-hours.[1]

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.

It is deemed advisable that in preparation for entering the Law School
the student select his courses from among the following subjects: English,
Latin, French or Spanish, History, a Natural Science, Mathematics, Government,
Accounting, and for students of more than average maturity Economics,
Logic and Ethics.

Admission of Women.—With the beginning of the session of 1920-21,
women were admitted to the Law School for the first time. The conditions
of their admission are the same as in the case of male applicants.

The High School Subjects for Admission to the College, and their values
in units are indicated in the General Catalogue of the University, in connection
with that department.

Evidence of the Required High School and College Work must be in the
form of a certificate, properly authenticated by the Registrar or other
authorized official of the institution at which the work was done. Such certificate
of College work must indicate the 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.

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 fulfill the foregoing entrance
requirements, may, by special action of the Law Faculty, in exceptional
cases, be admitted as special students, and not as candidates for the degree.[2]

Every 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. Such application, together with such testimonials as may be
required, should be filed with the Dean of the Law School not later than
September 1 of the year in which the applicant desires to enter the Law
School.

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.

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 with Credits.—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, and pursue
all required courses in the curriculum, and pass the regular examinations
therein.[3]

In the discretion of the Dean and of the professors in charge, an exception
to the foregoing regulation may be made in the courses in Public Speaking
and International Law, where these courses have been completed in
an approved institution of collegiate rank before entrance into the Law
School—provided credit for such courses has not already been utilized as a
necessary credit on entrance requirements.