I'd love to see some old AVN and ETA runs from 3/2 and 3/3 for the 3/5-3/6 timeframe. Would be great to see the differences between reality and modeling.
Like any profession, connections and networking matter as much...in some cases more...than academic credentials.
You can be "good" but if you can't network or communicate your way out of a wet paper bag you're going to struggle getting in the door.