University of Virginia Library

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Session begins on the Thursday preceding the nineteenth of September,
and continues for thirty-nine weeks, ending about June 15. 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 Monday following, 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.

The session is divided into Three Terms. The first term ends December
20; the second, March 28; and the third, with the close of the session.

Late Entrance.—Students are advised that late entrance upon the work of
any term 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 student may register for the work of the first term after October
15, nor for that of the second term after January 10—nor is registration
in absentia permissible.

When Students May Enter.—It is highly desirable that students of any
year, and particularly those of the first year, should enter at the beginning
of the session. Where this is impossible students may register at the beginning
of the second term, but not later, save in exceptional cases. In case of
such late entrance the student's chief handicap (often a serious one) will be
lack of familiarity with preceding courses, on some of which his own work
may be based. Entrance at the beginning of the later term, therefore, is not
advised, but only permitted. Where the student has thus entered in a later
term, he may not make up the work of the earlier term except by returning
for such portion of a fourth year as may be necessary to complete his full
three years of attendance.

Fees and Expenses.—The necessary expenses of a student in the Law
School may be estimated at $700 per session of nine months. This minimum
estimate includes all University and tuition fees, board, lodging, laundry
and books. An average estimate would be $900 to $1,000 per session, reckoning
living expenses at a somewhat higher figure. The University fee applicable
to all law students (including those from Virginia) is $60; and the
tuition fee for residents of Virginia is $175, for non-residents, $195. The total
fees, therefore, for Virginia students are $235, and for the non-Virginians
$255.

Payment of Fees.—Fees are payable one-third upon registration; one-third
at the opening of the second term; and the remainder at the opening
of the third term. Failure to meet these payments will lead to suspension
of all University privileges. (See Regulation 2, post page 349.)

Registration as Virginia Student.—In order to be considered a Virginia
student, it is necessary that the applicant's parents be domiciled in the State
if he be under twenty-one years of age; or if he has attained his majority,
that he himself be domiciled in said State; and that either his parents or the
applicant for admission shall have been bona fide taxpayers in the State of
Virginia for at least two years prior to said application.

Three Years' Course.—The course of study embraces three years of thirty-seven
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.—In many of the courses instruction is through textbooks
and lectures, supplemented in some instances by cases, while in other
courses the case-book is used exclusively—each professor having full liberty
of adopting his own methods.

The daily oral quiz has long been a marked and, as experience has proved,
a valuable feature of the system of instruction. 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 procedural courses, in the Law Clubs, in Forensic
Debating, and in Legal Bibliography and Brief Making, special stress is laid
upon practical work. In the course on Legal Bibliography and Brief Making,
an intimate acquaintance with law books and skill in their use are secured by
lectures and demonstrations three times a week during the first term of the
first year, accompanied by the assignment of practical work in the library, on
which numerous oral and written tests are held; and in the third year 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.
Membership in the Law Clubs is optional, but students are strongly
advised to take part in this work as affording excellent training in the use
of the library, in the preparation of briefs, and in the presentation of oral
argument.

Required for Graduation.—The degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) is
conferred upon such students as have satisfied the entrance requirements;
have attended three full sessions of the Law School; have successfully passed
the required examinations, with satisfactory performance of assigned practical
work, and have maintained a satisfactory record for ethical conceptions
and honorable conduct such as should characterize a prospective member
of the legal profession.

More specifically, the candidate for graduation must have completed all
the obligatory courses (see Outline of Courses, infra), and at least five of the
elective courses.