Not true in today’s LS environment of declining apps of top testers. Those 7-14 have been paying big bucks in the past ~4years to try to hold their median numbers.
There is some difference between 5 & 14/15, yes, but not much 5 & 8,or 5 & 10. The big difference in the latter (~10) is that a CLS grad would have more prestigious clerkship opportunities but that only applies to Lit folks. And, someone at median at CLS would have a better shot at Big Law than median at #10, but the total difference is marginal (and somewhat related to geographic preference).
For example, CLS places 73.6% into Big Law. Duke and Northwestern place 65.9% and 62.2% respectively. But, CLS only places 5.6% into federal clerkships, which is lower than Duke (8.7%), and Northwestern (7.3%).
Adding together, one measure of an excellent out come of law schools (Big Law+Clerkship):
CLS = 79.2%
Duke = 74.6%
Northwestern = 69.5%
Is it really worth paying sticker (vs. a heavily discounted #8 Duke, or #8 tie Virginia (70.3%)) to attend CLS for a 5% better chance at an excellent outcome? Perhaps if you are from a wealthy family, sure, but that is a LOT of loans to incur for a marginal job benefit.
And while CLS may place significantly better than say, 15, Texas/Vandy/UCLA, all three are excellent regionals and place well into their backyards. A Texan who wanted to practice in Texas would be foolish to pass up a heavily discounted UT to pay sticker at CLS. Similarly, SoCal Big Law hires quite a few locals (UCLA/USC grads).