focused research? or jack-of-all-schools?
 

I have two questions. They are list type questions, because I want people to feel like responding doesn't require writing an essay, and also to make it easier for viewers to ingest the information.

I. What is the rank order of the best schools for getting level 9 in quickly? I know this is nation dependent, so if you want to qualify your answer for a nation, do so. Otherwise just try to think in general terms.
II. If you are going for level 9 in one school as quickly as possible, what are your research priorites? Keep in mind that the fewer other research needs aside from the focus school the better for getting to the top quickly. Try responding in the format of 'High', 'Mid', 'Low', where High schools are 8-9, Mid is 5-7, and Low is 0-4.

I. Rank order of best schools to get level 9 in:
1. Conj
2. Const
3. Alt
4. Thau
5. Evo
6. Ench
Blood? I've never played blood nation, so I don't have much of an opinion. For a blood nation though, I'd say maybe top ranked?

II. Priorities
Upper Level: Alt, Const, Conj, Thau. Any of those are good candidates for bee-lining to upper levels.
Mid: either Const, Conj, or Evo. It is Const or Conj if you need these schools to get stuff to enable you to cast the upper level spells you desire. Otherwise (or if you are bee-lining Const or Conj) get Evo to give yourself some battle magic.
Low: Thau, Evo, and Ench. Thau and Evo for site searching. Maybe Ench if you have skellie spammers.

Re: focused research? or jack-of-all-schools?
 

I'm not sure I agree with your list because its level 9 focused.

Quibbles:

Constr 9 is really over-rated. Constr 6 or 8 are logical cut-off points. You won't be throwing up FotA unless you're already winning anyway, and otherwise 9 doesn't have enough to make it a priority. Constr 8 gives you artifacts, so if you can get there first, its definitely worthwhile. However, the good stuff is going to go fast, so if you can't get there first then 6 is probably good enough. (Not being able to get the Chalice, Scepter, or Hammer of the Forge Lord is enough to make Constr 8 go from amazing to nice. And the longer it takes you to get there after someone else snags it, the worse its going to be).

Evo 9 is pretty useless. Evo 7 is enough for most purposes. I'd rate Ench 9 over Evo 9.

For that matter, I'm not sure I'd rate Thau 9 over Ench 9. Astral travel is nice, but you're not going to be making extensive use of it at its price point unless you're playing with gem gens (*shudder*) or have Ench 9's AN already. And the other Thau 9 spells are rather situational (and in the case of master enslave, often hard to use well). Ench 9 offers AN and Army of Dead. Army of the Dead is great for raiding or bolstering your armies, although possibly a little pricey at 10d.

With Army of Lead/Gold, i would definitely rate Alt 2nd, and possibly 1st depending on nation and timing.

Re: focused research? or jack-of-all-schools?
 

Evo 9 can be useful if you have a good F income and plenty of high F mages (read: EA Aby)