Me likey.

...
Really.

1: Explore a cave
How much time should it take?
I'm not a thief, and thus I don't open locked chests.
I'm not a looter, and thus I don't pilifer graves.

2: Retrieve some books
Once again.
How can it take more time than it takes to actually explore the cave and pick up the items?

3: Explore a cave

4: Explore another cave with a harder boss

5: Things get rough

6: You're now the leader of the organization

I count 6 quests in total.

Compare that to oblivion, where there were SEVEN MAGE GUILD DEPARTMENTS.

Oblivion had as more mage-guild departments as the Skyrim college has real quests.

...
Ranks in oblivion:

Associate
Apprentice
Journeyman
Evoker
Conjurer
Magician
Warlock
Wizard
Master Wizard
Arch-Mage

That's more mage guild ranks than there are college mages!!!

You had to do SEVEN quests before you could become an APPRENTICE.

How many proper quests are there in total for the mage guild in Skyrim?
...


Would it hurt to take one barmaid's quest and just add it to the mage guild, so that you could reach a higher rank than apprentice before you became archmage?

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Mages_Guild

I already said I couldn't speak for the college, as I haven't even joined that guild yet.

Much as I love Skyrim, I can't help agreeing that the storytelling is off on some of the faction lines. My good-alligned character killed the DB, can't join the TG, has been forced to abandon the Companions ("What, drink that? Are you crazy?") and isn't a mage. I basically had to make a new character just to do the Companions, because any character that completes it has to be a total nutcase in RP terms.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Bards' College, which is the worst of all in terms of pacing, yet BC wS clearly intended at some point in development to be a full faction.

Of the ones I've completed, TG is excellent, DB is very good, MG is mediocre (and includes the longest, most miserable and unrewarding dungeon crawl in the game). I will say, though, that the faction lines are only a very small part of the game, and the Daedric Shrine quests make for a much better series in Skyrim than they were in Oblivion. The Jarl errands are also pretty good, and - if you include the radiant quests - there's a pretty enormous quantity of material right there.

Also, I think that there are some misty recollections of Oblivion here: the MG in Oblivion was nowhere near as good a quest line as some posters are suggesting.

That ones, really is bad. To the point, I never really thought of it as a guild but more like a training ground.

I really think that's a good way to go. It really feels weird being the head of a guild but still doing gruntwork and having no real power or influence. Letting you progress to a higher-up position like a second in command would be nice.

I thought the MQ was hella long...I was wondering if it would ever end. I kept having to go here then there then back again...ugh...it was still fun but I don't know If i could do it a second time.