I can only speak from the PvM side, but here's my opinion
Templates that benefit from being elf:
Tamer (can tame cu sidhes - human has to have oen transferred to them while wearing the Pads of the cu sidhe footgear)
Lumberjack (non-combat): gets more swings per tree
Some mage templates (extra 20 mana), especially those low in mana regen & little/no Lower Mana Cost.
PvM Bushido Warrior with GM in Bushido, Parry & weapon
PvM Ninja Warrior with GM in Ninjitsu, Stealth & weapon
Templates that benefit from being human:
All other warrior types (gets the -10 to special moves at 70 weapon skill plus 70 points in another qualifier skill, as the other 160 comes from jack of all trades - also gets some mana & stamina regen bonus even if no med or focus)
Miners (higher carrying capacity way outshines the "more special gems" bonus)
Mages that need stamina regen, and/or have max LMC. Also, mages that do resource gathering (leathers) benefit from human carrying capacity.
Most other templates are indifferent to race, but tend to be slightly more flexible as a human.
You still have to put 100 points into a skill to get to grandmaster. All Jack of all trades does is give you the equivalent of 20 phantom points in any skill that you have less than 20 real points in.
Skills that have tangible Jack of all trades effects if the character doesn't have points the skill:
Anatomy (10% DI)
Animal lore (ability to lore tamed creatures - takes several attempts - can attempt a very small chance of vetting an injured pet with the JOAT point in this and vet skill)
Arms Lore (humans get +1% DI to crafted weapons, +1 extra resist to crafted armors, if Arms lore not actually possessed)
Chivalry (ability to cast close wounds, cleanse by fire, divine fury - strength of which are karma based, not skill).
Evaluate Intelligence (gives some effect to spells that would normally fizzle from lack of eval)
Focus (2 Stamina Regen, 1 Mana Regen)
Healing (slight chance of healing with bandage)
Inscription (minor amount of SDI, and bonuses to the effect of some spells, such as reactive armor and magic reflect)
Magery (Humans have a 77% chance of casting level 2 spells, and 27% chance of casting level 3 spells. From scroll, they are at 100% on level 1-3 scrolls, 77% on level 4, 27% on level 5 - this means they can do things like cast blade spirits from scrolls)
Meditation (small amount of mana regen - amount based on (skill+3*INT)/400)
Parrying (slight additional bonus to parry)
Spellweaving (ability to cast several, quite useful spells, including (but not limited to) Arcane circle, Nature's fury, and Gift of renewal. Must still do the quest for the skill to use - but can use people without spellweaving to cast Arcane Circle, which really amps up the duration and effects of the other spellweaving spells. Example, A level 5 focus increases gift of renewal to about 9-10 Health Point regen every 2 seconds, for sometime between 30 & 60 seconds, when cast by a human with 0 real skill, just the JOAT points)
Tactics (slight DI bonus: 12.5%)
All Weapons skills & wrestling: Character has some ability to use skill in emergencies, for defense and attacking. Weapons skills not possessed also count their JOAT points to the total for special move cost reduction (as do all the other qualifiers)
