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The Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree is the first professional degree in law. Each year, thousands of highly qualified college students and graduates apply for the necessarily limited number of places in the first-year class. The admissions process aims to select from the applicant pool an entering class of students who will contribute to the Law School, to the Commonwealth of Virginia, to the nation and to the global legal community. These contributions, both before and after graduation, require exceptional academic ability.
Candidates for the J.D. degree must satisfy the following requirements satisfactorily complete the first-year required courses (Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Legal Research and Writing, Property and Torts); 2) successfully complete a professional ethics course; 3) successfully complete a professional skills course; 4) During each academic year of enrollment earn a minimum grade point average (GPA) of C+ (2.3) and accumulate fewer than three exclusion points; 5) successfully earn a minimum of 86 semester credits, with no fewer than 64 classroom credits; 6) complete six semesters in residence, except in the case of transfer students who receive credit for semesters completed at other law schools and enter with advanced standing. A semester in residence is one in which a student enrolls in a minimum of 12 credits towards the degree and receives grades of D or better for at least nine of those 12 credits; 7) satisfy the Law School’s upper-level writing requirement by completing at least one substantial research paper after completion of their first year of law school; 8) conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the Law School’s academic and non-academic student conduct requirements. The course of study for the J.D. degree must be completed no later than 84 months after a student has commenced law study at Virginia or another law school from which the student transferred.
For details, contact the Admissions Office, University of Virginia School of Law, 580 Massie Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, or visit www.law.virginia.edu/admissions. For program details, contact the Student Records Office, University of Virginia School of Law, 580 Massie Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, or visit http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/academics/policies/policies.htm
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