I think this is a case of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Your suggestion was to lower MP costs, but MP isn't even a problem for Scholars. And the crit thing is just your personal luck, I find that my crit rate is pretty high. I agree with the dude who said we need to hush about Adlo, that's one move we definitely don't want the devs to re-evaluate.

But really Scholar has been in a good place for a long time now. We're certainly not lacking in instant cast spells and easily retain the best MP regen out of the healers. AST changes are tricky cause of the sects, but if any healer role does need an update I think it's WHM. It doesn't bring the utility that a SCH/AST combo can provide, especially if they make the mind bonus universal too.