I have been playing a pure mage now,am level 11.

I am about two bandit collectives away from destruction 40.

I am trying to use conjuration more and more. is it just me, or is the extra cost of mana to swtich from summon familiar to summon atronach WAAAY worth it?

also, I am starting to play around with restoration and other schools.

rally and courage seem pretty weak. does anyone find them helpful? and if so, when and how?

i use em on my followers, i use rally mostly, i think they give em a health boost for a while.

I find them very useful, using those combined with healing your target can make your companion murder everything for you. since they have constant healing and are stronger than usual, they are very hard to kill.