I haven't looked at the save files, so I won't comment on that, but regarding the "schoolboy" unit, I'll say that I take it on the early stages without hesitation. Let me explain why. The chance of getting a bonus is equally likely. The parameter and spell (parameter if there's no spellbook) are acceptable to me. That's 66%. In the remaining 33%, we'll get a secondary skill. About a third of those will be useful to us. So, 77% of the time, the bonus will be acceptable. For me, this is a probability high enough to justify the risk.
I myself used to do this sometimes, before there was a script for the "schoolboy" unit. I saw Mike in Alaska take a "schoolboy" - he got a tent. He swore, then immediately took another one - and got an estate. Good thing they were playing with classes at the time :).
