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, and, indeed, 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 advised not to begin their legal studies until they have
completed 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 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.

A session-hour is one hour a week of recitation, or two hours a week of
laboratory work, throughout the college year. Candidates for admission who
have not completed the required thirty session-hours will not be admitted with
the privilege of making up the deficiency while in the Law School.

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.

Notice is given that two important changes in the requirements for admission
are in contemplation, of which changes pre-law students should be forewarned.
First: The exclusion, as subjects acceptable for admission to the
Law School, of courses in Art, Music, Commercial Law, Education, Physical
Training, Military Training, and Public Speaking. Second: The definite requirement,
for admission to the Law School, of most of the following subjects,
which are now recommended as desirable pre law courses: English, Latin,
a Modern Foreign Language, History, a Natural Science, Mathematics, Political
Science, Accounting, and for students of more than average maturity Economics,
Psychology, 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, and only in exceptional
cases, be admitted as special students, and not as candidates for the degree.[1]

Every applicant for admission as a special student is required to make
written application to the Dean, 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 of the Law School 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.

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.[2]

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.