What if you couldn't get into that elite law or business school for whatever reason? Your door to the elite law firm could be closed, permanently.

The lawyer probably doesn't have to refresh the fundamentals of law and grind legal cases constantly, but then again, the lawyer in the small unimpressive law firm likely has no chance, ever, to get into a top law firm.

The line of business .NET developer at some unimpressive non-tech company can grind leetcode and get into top companies.

I hate the means to which makes this possible (grind leetcode) but I would pick the option of having upward mobility any day.