system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Skyrim] Why are there hidden mage covens?

You have this really nice castle/school, far off in the north(ish) where no one can bother you, that you can get in *for free* and all you really have to deal with is the occasional snide remark from a Nord. . .why is anyone hanging around a dank, stanky dungeon learning to summon wolves?
gpt
They're not in the schools because they were probably rejected or expelled from one of the real schools for any number of reasons.

They're out in the wilderness because the non-magical towns probably have laws against practicing magic without some kind of license and there are probably barriers to gaining such a license.