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However, one of the main things known about the latter is that it's almost exclusively a WIZARD school - meaning Sorcerers are out of luck and potentially also Arcanists would have a hard time getting in... right?
I don't think the school restricts its teaching to wizards. Because IMO "wizards" don't exist ingame, they are just a handy concept for players. IMO ingame a wizard is a smart person, willing to use their intelligence as well as a lot of time and energy to systematically learn arcane powers. You could apply this description to arcanists too, at least at the beginning of their career - sooner or later they will develop their own approaches to magic. Which are not covered by conventional lessons and might offend teachers. Or intrigue them. Or make them support the arcanist to hide their powers (because the arcanist is promising otherwise, or a love interest, or reminds the teacher of their son, or whatever).
What I'm wondering is what kind of options would a Korvosan-born Arcanist have for how they could have studied outside of those institutions?
They could get their hands on some magic books, by chance.
They could be taught by an independent master. Which is no necessarily humanoid.They could visit a different institution in another city, then come back to Korvosa.
I guess there are more options.
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The reason those and other schools are wizard focused is the nature of the classes. Although the three classes share a spell list how they actually use magic is not the same.
A sorcerer is someone born with the ability to do magic. No amount of training can teach someone who does not have the inborn ability. Not everyone who has the potential to become a sorcerer chooses to develop the ability. In some cases, they may decide to develop the ability later in life. That explains how someone can multiclass into a sorcerer. But the ability was always there even if the character denies and suppresses it. A sorcerer does not need to understand how magic works they simply tap into their inborn talents. When they “learn” a spell it is more developing a new muscle then actually learning.
Wizardry is a skill that can be learned. The skill is complex and difficult to learn especially for someone without sufficient intelligence. Someone with a low INT simply does not have the mental discipline to control magic. The more complex the magic the more mental focus and concentration is needed. Since a wizard has no inborn magic ability, they often draw power from material components for even simple spells. This is why wizards use material components where sorcerers only need them for more powerful spells.
An Arcanist is kind of a mixture of the two. Like a sorcerer they are born with some magic talent. In some cases, it may not be strong enough to manifest as a sorcerer, in others it may be the character has the potential to become a sorcerer but chose to develop it in a different manner.
Most schools will be focused on wizard since anyone with sufficient INT can become a student. A sorcerer gains nothing from going to a school of wizardry, and in fact it may hamper his ability to develop as a sorcerer. This could cause the character to become an arcanist instead of a sorcerer. Arcanist schools are going to be fairly rare because fewer candidates will be able to fully learn this method of magic.
So, while a sorcerer will probably not get anything from a magic school, the arcanist might. More than likely this would probably result in an arcanist who has the school savant archetype. A sorcerer studying at a school might develop into a blood arcanist.
If you're willing to look outside of Korvosa but would rather stay within Varisia, both the Twilight Academy and the Stone of Seers would be fine options for arcane learning. ;)