I set out to see how soon i could get mage 10 and unlock Meteor. i was told over and over you needed to unlock veteran zones before it would be possible. I wanted to find out for myself.
It is not hard at all, simply takes a little time and effort and if your a low levels a few dungeon books you will need help with(3 dungeon books)
other then that, i got mage guild 10 at lvl 15 on a nightblade and i soloed everything except the 3 dungeons. I will say beating all the mage guild quest at the low level was a challenge but not impossible.