ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS
Suggestions as to Preliminary Education.—Prospective law 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 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
urged not to begin their legal studies before completion of 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:
Entrance Credits.—In addition to the completion of an approved high
school course of four years, or its equivalent, the candidate must present evidence
that for two years at least he has pursued, as a resident, in a standard
college, courses acceptable toward a baccalaureate degree, of which he must
have successfully completed at least 30 session-hours, or 60 semester-hours.
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.
Applications for Admission.—Applications for admission must be submitted
upon forms which will be supplied by the Dean of the Law School. Such
applications, with satisfactory evidence of the required entrance credits, should
be filed in the Dean's office not later than September 1.
An applicant for admission from outside Virginia may be required to supplement
his application by an interview with representatives of the University.
Any applicant whose pre-law college record is not considered satisfactory
by the Committee on Admissions, from the standpoint of scholarship, may be
denied admission, or admitted only on Probation, even though such applicant
has completed the entrance credits required.
Courses Not Acceptable for Admission.—A candidate shall present at
least 30 session-hours (or 60 semester-hours, or their equivalent) of college
work, taken in a school approved by standard regional accrediting agencies,
and exclusive of credit earned in non-theory courses in Military Science, Hygiene,
Domestic Arts, Physical Education, Vocal or Instrumental Music, or
other courses without intellectual content of substantial value. This requirement
conforms to the rules of the Association of American Law Schools.
Recommended Pre-Law Courses.—The following subjects are recommended
as desirable pre-law courses: English, Latin, a Modern Foreign Language,
History, a Natural Science, Mathematics, Political Science, Accounting,
Economics, Psychology, Philosophy, and Public Speaking.
Evidence of the Required High School and College Work.—Evidence of
the required entrance credits must be in the form of a certificate, properly
authenticated by the Registrar or other authorized official of the institution
at which the college work was done. Such certificate must indicate, in addition
to the high school units offered for admission, the college 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.
No Conditioned Students.—Candidates for admission who have not completed
the required 30 session-hours will not be admitted with the privilege
of making up the deficiency.
Advanced Standing.—From 1904 to 1934 no advanced standing or other
credit was given for attendance at another law school, nor for time spent in
private reading. During that time the practical results were so satisfactory
that the rule must still be regarded as the prevailing policy of the law school,
as a general rule.[2]
During recent years, however, it has become apparent that iron-clad adherence
to this rule occasionally prevented the Law School from receiving an
applicant of the highest calibre. To make the admission of such an applicant
possible, in exceptional cases, the Law Faculty adopted a resolution, effective
with the session of 1934-35, providing as follows:
"Credit toward the degree of Bachelor of Laws in this Law School, in no
event to exceed the work of one full session, may, in the discretion of the
Dean or Assistant Dean of this Law School, or upon vote of the Law Faculty,
be given for courses satisfactorily passed in a law school in the United States
that is either approved by the American Bar Association or is a member of
the Association of American Law Schools. Similar credit may in like manner
be given for work done in law schools outside the United States. No credit
shall be given to a student who is ineligible for re-admission to the law school
in which the work, for which credit is sought, was done; and no credit shall
be given for work in any single session during which the student failed in two
or more courses. Credit once given may be withdrawn for unsatisfactory work
in this Law School. The Dean and the Assistant Dean of this Law School
are given power to make such rulings and adjustments as shall be necessary for
the fair and equitable administration of this general provision."
Admission of Women.—With the beginning of the session of 1920-1921,
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.
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 fulfil 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.[3]
The 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 infomation 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 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.
