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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 31st Aug 2021 at 11:47 PM
Default Do your sims attend college?
In my Pleasantview, no sims attended college until Sim State University offered every current teen a scholarship and guaranteed admittance. After that, whether or not teens go to college is based on a modifier. +25% for each parent who graduated college, +10% for a want to attend college, +5% for an A grade in school, +5% for family wealth over 20k on hand, and +5% for Knowledge aspiration for a potential total of 75% chance of attending college. There are penalties in the modifier, too. -25% for each parent who got expelled from college, -20% for each parent who did not attend college, -10% for each parent who dropped out of college, and -10% for having less than 20k on hand.

So a bonus of up to 75% to a penalty of -60%. This means that everyone has a chance of attending college, even in the worst of circumstances.

Kids are more likely to attend the same college that their parents went to. Grades factor in to which college they attend. Perfect grades and some luck can get them into Sim State University. Since Sim State University does not accept everyone even if they meet all the requirements, Acadamie Le Tour is a good option. Want to go to college, but just barely scraped by high school? It's off to La Fiesta Tech.

This is just Pleasantview. I decide if I want to play college sims in my legacy hoods and my medieval hood has no college.

All's fair in love, war, and video games! ~LyokoGirl5000
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Link Ninja
#2 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 2:04 AM
Always, ever since I got the EP. In some manner. I just like seeing them at all age stages. I have the squinge mega college pack hack so even the ones in main hood at least do community college or tech college. I do have a little rule though where the sim has to have a 7 or more in a skill in order to go to Academie LeTour as I consider it 'Ivy league'. Also to get into a uni sub hood all teens must have 2 skills minimum in every skill chart.

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Mad Poster
#3 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 2:58 AM
It is often that my 'hoods never have a college attached to them. I'm either too lazy to build one myself or I can't find one to DL that I like, so my Sims rarely attend college.

Because the earth is standing still, and the truth becomes a lie
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry

Alchemist
#4 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 3:23 AM
Yes, my sims usually go to college. I didn't have a formula or anything, it was more that if I thought a sim should go, they'd go. I'd take family status into account--more well to do families like the Pleasants and Burbs always send their kids even if they can't afford it. They scrape some money together or take out a loan. Depending on the parents' personalities I decide who takes out the loan, parent or kid.

So in my last Pleasantview save, Angela and Lilith both went. Daniel had died unexpectedly in a fire so Mary-Sue found an older townie gentleman to marry and provide for the family. She let the girls know in explicit terms that she expect them to find a good husband in uni and marry up. Jennifer Burb was a little less strict about it, but basically told Lucy the same. She and John had divorced, so she worked overtime to provide Lucy, and their other two kids, with a college fund, since John was off finding himself in the countryside and starting a new, bigger family (long story). With the Brokes, Brandi had eventually remarried a guy named Renaud in the Criminal career and so they talked about it and decided that he would use some of his heist money to send Dustin and Beau, but it would be an investment--they'd help him with the crime business. Dustin would run a second gang Downtown and Beau would be the family lawyer. Khris, Brandi's third son with Skip, would work in one of the family gangs. For their own children, only their eldest boy would go. Boys would move out and work for the family gang and the girls would live at home until they married. So yeah, basically story is usually the reason behind who goes to college in my hoods.

I do have some rules for uni, though. First, everyone pays tuition, 20K for SSU and 30K for the Academie. The Academie is really strict--students need good grades, at least 1 skill scholarship and a gold badge (or instead of the gold badge, they need an occult scholarship, or the billards, dance, and level 3 career scholarships). This is because the Academie has stricter graduation requirements--3.5 gpa or higher, max three skills, learn 2 life skills and two gold badges. I've been playing to wants in uni, too, so this becomes a little mini challenge for me. SSU, on the other hand, is much less strict, basically C+ or higher to enter and to graduate students have to have 5 points in all skills and learn 2 life skills.

But as I plan a new megahood, I've been toying with the idea of introducing an entrance exam, so not all teens get to go to college, or everyone doesn't always get to go to the same school. To differentiate SSU and LFT, I was thinking that some majors should only be offered at some campuses. But I've been wavering on how many seats each class should be. I don't really want to play too many sims, and I'd like to give townie teens a chance at applying, too. So I haven't come up with a good solution yet.

"May the sunlight find you, thy days be long, thy winters kind, thy roots be strong." -Grand Oak Tree, DAO

XPTL Mod Archive | Change a Mod's Mesh into a CC Object | Increasing the Game Difficulty | Editing ACR 4 Your Age Mod
Bored? Read an unfinished legacy or sim story. | aka Kelyns | she/her
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#5 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 3:41 AM
I play young adults as an age range, so yes some attend college and some do college from home. Some don't do college at all, they get jobs, run businesses, mooch off parents or do odd jobs. I like variety and every YA attending uni would get old, fast. YA don't have to just be uni students.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Link Ninja
#6 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 4:12 AM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
I play young adults as an age range, so yes some attend college and some do college from home. Some don't do college at all, they get jobs, run businesses, mooch off parents or do odd jobs. I like variety and every YA attending uni would get old, fast. YA don't have to just be uni students.


What do you use to play YA as an age range when they aren't doing college/uni related functions?

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Mad Poster
#7 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 5:22 AM
Quote: Originally posted by LyokoGirl5000
In my Pleasantview, no sims attended college until Sim State University offered every current teen a scholarship and guaranteed admittance. After that, whether or not teens go to college is based on a modifier. +25% for each parent who graduated college, +10% for a want to attend college, +5% for an A grade in school, +5% for family wealth over 20k on hand, and +5% for Knowledge aspiration for a potential total of 75% chance of attending college. There are penalties in the modifier, too. -25% for each parent who got expelled from college, -20% for each parent who did not attend college, -10% for each parent who dropped out of college, and -10% for having less than 20k on hand.

So a bonus of up to 75% to a penalty of -60%. This means that everyone has a chance of attending college, even in the worst of circumstances.


That isn't true at all. If a teen has two parents who never went to college, doesn't roll the want, doesn't have an A, doesn't have enough money, and isn't a Knowledge sim, they get a -40% chance, whatever that means. Because your penalties are tied to the same variables as the bonuses, they're actually much more dire than you're depicting here - a parent not attending college is actually -45%, a parent who got expelled is -50%, a parent who dropped out is -35%, and not having enough money is -15%.
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#8 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 5:26 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Charmful
What do you use to play YA as an age range when they aren't doing college/uni related functions?


Those not doing uni I age to YA with the sim blender since if you use the cake in Squing'es at home college pack it will give them a memory of 'went to uni'.

If they are going to have a job I get them a job again via the sim blender and use the job panel revealer to keep track. https://modthesims.info/d/601315/le...perimental.html

If they are going to own a business the game already lets them do that.

If they are going to mooch they live at home and might do odd jobs like tend bar. if they earn $100 they open a bank account on Monique's laptop.

To play college at home I use the pack plus the semester tester, now by Sunrader as a neat pile of books rather than that large ugly apple statue. each student needs their own and it's used to start the uni clock. https://sunradersimblr.tumblr.com/p...els-and-no-omsp

YA not doing uni you never start the clock on. I do have to count days manually since they don't age and the uni bar does not move. Most times I put up a shelf and put up a plant pot plant each day. All of my YA have 10 days, doing uni or not. This keeps everyone in sync no matter if it's the uni hood or base hood. Uni itself is 8 days with the semester Changes mod. Then the 2 extra are for fun or extra time needed for academic probation. Neither of those 2 things matters to those not doing uni. With sims not doing uni you also need to watch out for 'go to class' as that will pop up, the game doesn't know they are not doing uni.

At the end of 10 days I age them to adult, not age up or they will age to elder. Some of my ya already have a home, partner, and kids.
YA can do everything adults can except get married although there may be a mod out there that I don't know about.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#9 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 8:34 AM
I absolutely love playing Uni.
My teens all go to Uni - and every townie, downtownie and vacation local has also gone during the years I have been playing.
6 students per dorm - all of them playable - suits me the best. And since they spend most of their time on community lots, time flies and before I know it, there are 6 graduation parties per dorm (although it may be less if some Sims dropped out along the way) to fit in and the next bunch is coming.
This is the time to make all those friends a sim may need for a promotion, to build a social network that can last the rest of a sim's life. to have some fun and perhaps even to meet the spouse.
I also love to use Sophie-David's mods for Uni - and sending the students to actual classes is a lot of fun. Seeing former Uni students turning up to teach them - priceless
Mad Poster
#10 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 10:08 AM
The thing I think with TS2 and college is that college takes a lot of dedication, if you're like me, which you shouldn't be let's be honest, you'll likely find that you bounce between neighborhoods very often that you can't find one to truly settle on and that in turn makes it so you don't want to waste effort or time on something you may never actually use because you'll be too busy switching from one neighborhood to another.

Because the earth is standing still, and the truth becomes a lie
A choice profound is bittersweet, no one hears Cassandra Goth cry

Scholar
#11 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 12:40 PM
Most of my Sims go to college because I play by wants and most of them want to. I find playing college a bit tedious but am now using Cyjon's mods, which I like--they shorten the time a bit and there is only one final per year, instead of per semester, so fewer chances for academic probation.

I only attach one university to a hood, the one that most "goes" with it. So La Fiesta Tech with Strangetown and other desert towns, Sim State with Pleasantview, Academie La Tour with Veronaville.

Teens have the option to apply for college on their 18th birthday (9 days to adult) if they have the want to go. They will not be accepted if they have an F grade. If they have a D grade, they must get at least one scholarship. C and higher, they can go. If they don't get in or don't have the want, they have until their 21st birthday to reapply. On their 21st birthday, they are aged up to adult. Exception: If they have an F, they failed out of high school and become an independent teen until their 21st birthday, when they age up. Rich families may be able to bribe their kid's way into college if they don't already qualify.

I usually wait until I have a good cohort before I play college (at least 4, usually 6-8). I don't mind their ages not synching up because adults all have different age spans from a mod anyway. I'll generally send any townies that they make friends with and turn them into dormies or change them back to townies once they graduate/fail out. I don't charge tuition, but I do have bigger bills and since there is only one final per 2-day year, it can be challenging to pay them, so that counts as "tuition" for me. Those who can't raise grants or get money from their parents for tuition are forced to drop out. To pass, they have to have wants to either skill, pass that year, or get on the dean's list (and of course, they have to actually do the work). Teens who go into aspiration failure during college are forced to drop out.

Those who don't finish college can complete their degrees via online school as an adult. I generally base this on wants and skills. For instance, they may have the want to get promoted--I have the mod in that limits careers based on education level--so if they skill for the promotion via the hacked computer, they may be awarded an extra want slot/lock. If they get the full complement, then they get their degree.
Forum Resident
#12 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 3:29 PM
My Sims never attend University now. I tried playing Uni way back when and it was so long, so boring and so repetitive that I grew to detest the ever-loving gads o' time I had to spend to get each and every Sim who went there through it.

I know that there are lots and lots of necessary Uni mods available now to make it even somewhat bearable but my Simmies have adapted quite well using SimNopke's mod to gain/lose additional wants/fears slots based on their life experiences and using a Job Board to apply for those "Uni-Only" careers.

College? My Sims dun ned no cowlege edyoukayshun.

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Mad Poster
#13 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 4:29 PM
Mine won't even get the chance to attend in my Pleasantview Epic Challenge for generations because there was none in colonial America in the 17th century and Pleasantview was just a small colony for at least a few generations.It would get introduced when enough young sims are eductated and literate as onlt those who can read would even stand a chance of getting into the school.Most of the PEC sim children won't even go to school and many won't learn to read.
Theorist
#14 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 6:29 PM
No. Well, technically I move them to the college subhood, cheat them to the last semester and have them pass their finals, but I do not play college, because I find it long and boring and long(also boring).
However, I did add 10 days to the Adult Lifestage where I play them as if they were "Young Adults", just in the mainhood and without college.

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Scholar
#15 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 7:07 PM
I used to send every single teen to Uni back in 2016 and dump all of them into the same lot (lots of motive/grade cheating!). I love the bands you can make and the funny antics the dormies would get up to. Oh, and the stupid cow! Can't forget the cow! It's the best time to get to know your Sims to a deeper level and let them explore and have fun, even the child/teen townies you decide to take with your own Sims!

It was all going well until I discovered rotational & wants-based play which complicated my Uni playing experience since I couldn't figure out a way to incorporate my "rules" to where it made sense. I still don't lol, but it did give me a variety of educated / non-educated Sims which was great and I think I will keep doing that. Speaking of which, I've got Angela & Lilith to arrive at Uni! This shall be a wild ride!

The good thing about this game is that it's your own playground - don't worry and have fun! I keep having to remind myself of this... Some nagging thing in my brain tells me that rules are rules and you can't break them. PFFT. If anyone else struggles with the same thing like that, tell the nagger in your head to shut up and enjoy your game. :p

Sim On!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#16 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 7:13 PM
Quote: Originally posted by kestrellyn
That isn't true at all. If a teen has two parents who never went to college, doesn't roll the want, doesn't have an A, doesn't have enough money, and isn't a Knowledge sim, they get a -40% chance, whatever that means. Because your penalties are tied to the same variables as the bonuses, they're actually much more dire than you're depicting here - a parent not attending college is actually -45%, a parent who got expelled is -50%, a parent who dropped out is -35%, and not having enough money is -15%.


I'm no good at math. I've been actively forgetting it since I figured out that I would always have a calculator with me after school. Regardless, my playstyle makes the modifier work, correct math or not, haha.

All's fair in love, war, and video games! ~LyokoGirl5000
Field Researcher
#17 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 7:53 PM
Yes I play Uni regularly and at the regular length, I have a main dorm that i've spruced up over the years that I mainly play. I find Uni is much more enjoyable to play when I have a group of friends around the same age go at the same time (including townies), I love seeing the change in relationship dynamics and the drama with the help of ACR and it's also a welcome challenge trying to juggle their class/study/job routines. They of course have their own outside relationships but the core friend group mostly stays tight even if one of them moves out. For the student portion, I only do wants based fulfillment when it comes to studying, doing homework and if they don't want to go to class, they don't.

For activities, I have them go downtown or outside the uni hood and do activities like going out to eat, clubbing, shopping, whatever. I've been trying to see if I can also have them take a spring break type vacation but we'll see.

I also have them take group photo when one of them is about to graduate so they (and also myself to be honest because I like looking at the photos from time to time) have memories of their time at college. I've actually started taking these group photos for these sims that grow up together as friends from when they are kids, it's so fun to have to look back on.

Also have a custom for my playable sims where they all light a sparkler right before they leave to back to the main hood, it's kind of my replacement for the grad party which I rarely do these days. They look so happy and hopeful when they are doing it, it's like a happy goodbye to college and excitement for what's to come although the ones that don't have well off parents or are more independent do struggle for awhile after they get out due to my financial mods lol....
Mad Poster
#18 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 8:10 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Fyren5
Some nagging thing in my brain tells me that rules are rules and you can't break them.
Fortunately I have a lot of free-spirited Sims in my game, who remind me that rules only exist so that you can break them. Yeah! There's no point in having a rule if you don't break it,

All Sims are beautiful -- even the ugly ones.
My Simblr ~~ My LJ
Sims' lives matter!
The Veronaville kids are alright.
Scholar
#19 Old 1st Sep 2021 at 8:43 PM
I have Inteen, which raises the minimum grade from D to C, and I don't make teens do homework unless they roll a want for it, so some Sims just don't make the grade. Other than that, it varies from hood to hood.

I use Cyjon's Bigger Bills, so in a hood where bills are set at a high level a lot of Sims can't afford to go. Bills in Respite-Sedona are set to max, plus the hood is supposed to be a long way from anywhere, so Sedona Sims need at least $4000 in grants or parental contribution to have any chance of getting through university ($2000 of that is their 'airfare', paid to Malcolm Landgraab). Since most Sedona Sims are employed in low-level construction work, very few can raise that kind of money, especially for multiple children. Sims in Respite work for Landgraab Enterprises, earn more, and get a discount on the airfare, so they're more likely to go.

In Strangetown, anyone who scrapes a C in high school can go to Land Grant University. Brainania is reserved for the brightest and mostly offers science courses, while Quadington teaches courses related to public service careers, such as law, law enforcement, the military, politics and education (but not medicine; if you don't have the grades for Brainania, you don't have the grades to study medicine).

In SMB Northbridge, nobody goes to college because they're isolated after a huge geomagnetic storm cut all communications, power supplies, etc, and triggered tsunamis and earthquakes, which in turn triggered volcanic activity that has plunged them into a years-long winter. Only when winter eases and travel becomes possible will anybody venture far enough afield to find other pockets of civilization, including a university.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 2nd Sep 2021 at 8:26 AM
I won't have any going in my BACC for a while since the town of Dodge is just getting started and will have home schooling for those if their parents have high enough logic skill and they'll only get the education up to the end of grade school and have to move on to getting jobs after that or being apprenticed to a trade.The town will eventually add a schoolhouse in over the coming years though not all children will attend as the homesteaders might not be near enough and some of the town families might not be sending their children and any child aging up will leave school and either be working or homeschooled as a teen stage sim and only those who continue schooling have the higher education at home or on a campus of the town is able to add one.
Top Secret Researcher
#21 Old 2nd Sep 2021 at 10:18 PM
I always have every playable teen go to University, I like playing University.

for info on changing the Mac Open File Limit check out my post here http://www.insimenator.org/index.ph...html#msg1628939
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but satisfaction brought it back.
Test Subject
#22 Old 5th Sep 2021 at 6:22 PM
Most of my sims go to university. Not as many of them finish, though! I try to have a few flunkers and drop-outs every rotation.
Forum Resident
#23 Old 7th Sep 2021 at 3:26 AM
In my game, whether sims go or not depends on aspiration and family. Knowledge and Fortune sims always go (though I might have a story at some point that they can't), Popularity and Romance sims usually go but might not if their family/friends/romantic interests don't, Pleasure and Family sims usually don't go but might if their family/friends/romantic interests go (or their LTW is for a career that needs it), and Cheese sims don't go.

The first batch of sims all went - Johnny Smith, Jill Smith, Tank Grunt and Phillip Grunt (aka Ripp) went because their aspiration said they should, and Ophelia Nigmos went because her boyfriend did (and she wanted to work in Education, which requires uni with my mod) while Brian Grunt (aka Buck) went because his father expected it and his friend Jill went (he's Pleasure).

With my younger sims, the following sims are currently studying or have recently graduated:
Sirius Curious (Knowledge)
Cassiopeia Curious (Knowledge)
Hecate Beaker (Knowledge)
Gavin Loner (Fortune)
Thomas Grunt (Fortune)
Daniel Ottomas (Popularity)
Gabriella Newson-Loner (Popularity)
Orion Curious (Knowledge)
and Charles Grunt (Fortune)
While these sims decided to stay at home and not bother attending:
Ginger Thanasia-Newson (Family)
Amanda Thanasia (Grilled Cheese)
Sheila Ottomas (Family)
Gallagher Newson (Pleasure)

I used to get bored by uni, but I have a 48 hours per semester mod that helps keep things interesting.

Thinking about not going, does anyone know a mod that lets the "didn't go to college" memory be a happy one? Or at least stop sims being unhappy about it?
Alchemist
#24 Old 12th Sep 2021 at 6:11 PM
@KittyCarey there's a few mods. I've been using the ones in Squinge's Mega College Pack, No Memory Uneducated and No Want Satisfy Uneducated. But I think some other modders have their own versions.

And I forgot to ask: @BlueAlien how do you get your teens to roll wants to do homework? Maybe my Knowledge sims will roll the want the next day, but everyone else? Pfft.

"May the sunlight find you, thy days be long, thy winters kind, thy roots be strong." -Grand Oak Tree, DAO

XPTL Mod Archive | Change a Mod's Mesh into a CC Object | Increasing the Game Difficulty | Editing ACR 4 Your Age Mod
Bored? Read an unfinished legacy or sim story. | aka Kelyns | she/her
Forum Resident
#25 Old 12th Sep 2021 at 7:02 PM
My advice is to set up some relationships before and acr will do the rest of the drama, also add a billiard or group objects that increase relationships. I've had very crazy residencies.
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