In case you missed it, this article by Malcolm Gladwell from The New Yorker last month on college admissions at "elite institutions" is quite interesting (he has a passing comment on law school admissions as well). One interesting tidbit that I hadn't been aware of is that male athletes that graduate from these institutions tend to go on to earn more after graduating that non-athlete peers.

By the way, I recently finished reading Gladwell's Blink, which I found to be quite enjoyable.