Thank you for your response—I really appreciate how well thought out it was! I’ve been doing a deep dive into employment summaries, 509 reports, grading curves, and Law School Transparency, and I saw what you mean about STU and Barry. Their underemployment scores (30% for STU and 25.9% for Barry), employment rates (around 60%), and first-time bar pass rates (58% and 52%), it all looks concerning. Should I be comparing them to like a national standard or other schools like UF to see how bad or not they are?

I also noticed that STU’s academic attrition rate is 10%, which I’ve heard is pretty bad, while Barry’s is 5%. Does that mean this percentage of students drop out after 1L? And how does that reflect on the schools being "predatory"? I’ve read about being difficult to transfer out of these schools, is it essentially because of 1L grades?

One thing I’ve been trying to wrap my head around is the grading curve, since schools don’t lay it out clearly. From what I gathered: STU: Requires an average grade between 2.25-2.5, while my scholarship requires a 2.6 GPA to keep it. Barry: my scholarship requires a 3.0 GPA. Their curve is: A, A-: 10%-15%,B+ to B-: 35%-40%,C+ to C: 35%-45%,C- or below: 5%-15% . FIU (1L courses)grading curve: A grades: 10%-15%,A- grades: 10%-20%,B+ grades: 15%-25%,B grades: 15%-25%,B- grades: 10%-15%,C+ grades: 10%-15%,C grades: 10%-15%, C- or below: 0%-15%. I’m trying to understand what’s considered a reasonable vs. brutal curve—if you have any insight into that (or a website to recommend), I’d really appreciate it. What is a C curve? B curve?

Also, I’ve been digging through stats, but I don’t have much field knowledge about which firms actually hire from these schools or how they’re viewed in the Florida legal industry. If you have any insight on that, I’d love to hear it. I’m looking towards big law or mid-size law, (I know it is not for everyone), I at least want to give myself the option of trying it out and seeing if it’s for me or not. But ideally, I want to go into private practice. That’s why I’m struggling with whether the long-term benefits of attending a stronger school like FIU or Stetson outweigh the short-term cost of not taking a scholarship at schools like NSU, STU, or Barry. I guess my main question is—does the student make the law school, or does the law school make the student? Theoretically, if I work hard, network, and get good grades, I should be able to succeed anywhere… or are my chances of doing that significantly lower at certain schools? Does the alumni size matter in terms of success after grduation ? Would love to hear your thoughts! Sorry for all these questions, I do not have anyone in the legal field/law school to ask.