University Education

*Mods I Use*

• Rejection Letter From University Possible ~ This mod by Ilkavelle makes it more possible, and likely, to receive a rejection letter when applying to University.
• Custom Degrees ~ I couldn’t recommend this more highly than I already am but the Custom Degrees by Zer0 are fantastic. There are 15 degrees here and, adding to the 13 that came with Discover University, I think almost everything you could want is covered here.
• University Costs More ~ This mod increases the costs of all the classes, including the electives.

University Of Britechester: Distinguished Degrees

• Archeology
• Art History
• Communications
• Creative Digital Media
• Culinary Arts
• Drama
• Education (Primary)
• Fine Arts
• Folklore & Mythology
• History
• Language & Literature
• Music
• Painting
• Philosophy
• Photography
• Social Justice

Foxbury Institute: Distinguished Degrees

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Criminology
• Economics
• Environmental Science
• Health, Sport & Performance
• Physics
• Psychology
• Veterinary Medicine
• Villainy

Ultimately though, it’ll depend on what your Sim wants to pursue. For example, if a Sim wants to be a Medic, they’ll need a Biology degree in order to join the career. If they want to be a Surgeon, and progress to the top, they will need a Distinguished Biology Degree, meaning they will have to gain the degree at Foxbury; a degree from UBrite would get them into the career but not to the top of the Surgeon branch. So their future career will need to be taken into account here.

*Funding*

Various types on funding are available via scholarships and through students loans. With Zer0’s University Costs More mod (link above), the loans end up being a lot bigger than the default, so trying to get scholarships is a good idea!

*Applying For University*

Thanks to Ilkavelle’s mod, there’s a chance that Sims might not get accepted into any of the Universities. This is impacted by three main factors: Grades, Personality and Skills.

Grades
Students with A or B grades have a higher chance of being accepted into University. However, students with a D or F grade have a higher chance of their applications being rejected. So diligence at school is essential to getting accepted into University.

Personality
The traits of students can play a factor in University deciding how likely a student would be to knuckle down and concentrate. So students with Ambitious, Bookworm, Perfectionist, Genius and Creative traits have a much higher chance of being accepted into University.
However, students with Lazy, Goofball and Clumsy traits have a higher chance of being rejected.

Skills
Low points in Charisma, Logic and Writing will give a high chance of being rejected from University but higher levels will secure a higher chance of acceptance.

If a Sim is rejected from University, they’re still welcome to try again the following year. If they’ve managed to improve on their basic skills, they might be in with a good chance of getting accepted!
However, it might end up that the Sim takes up a temporary job to earn money in between; this could be just Odd Jobs, or it could be grabbing any job they’re qualified for until they can get into University! They might decide in the end not to bother and continue with the career they’ve got. More on that on the After School: Jobs & Careers page.

*Getting Started: Accommodation*

Arguably one of the best things about University in Sims 4 is how flexible it is. Not all the Sims have to move to the Foxbury or UBrite campuses in order to study; they can also study from home while holding down a full time job, which is what Ethan started doing.

Typically, when a prospective student is heading to University, they’ll move to one of the many dorms available; this is mainly applicable to the students who are fresh out of school or to single Sims.

*Getting Started: Credits & Terms*

Terms

Depending on the course being studied, the degrees will take varying lengths of time to complete. The table below gives details on how I determine how many years a Sim will be at University for.

Table Key:
Full Time = No Full Time Job
Part Time = Full Time Job

	Course Length (Full Time)	Course Length (Distinguished) (Full Time)	Course Length (Part Time)	Course Length (Distinguished) (Part Time)
Archaeology	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Art History	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Biology	4 Years	5 Years	5 Years	6 Years
Chemistry	4 Years	5 Years	5 Years	6 Years
Communications	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Computer Science	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Creative Digital Media	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Criminology	4 Years	5 Years	5 Years	6 Years
Culinary Arts	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Drama	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Economics	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Education	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Environmental Science	4 Years	5 Years	5 Years	6 Years
Fine Arts	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Folklore & Mythology	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Health, Sport & Performance	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
History	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Language & Literature	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Music	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Painting	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Philosophy	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Photography	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Physics	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Psychology	4 Years	5 Years	5 Years	6 Years
Social Justice	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years
Veterinary Medicine	4 Years	5 Years	5 Years	6 Years
Villainy	3 Years	4 Years	4 Years	5 Years

So as you can see above, a standard degree takes between 3 and 4 years, if studied full time. If studied part time, it’ll take between 4 and 5 years.
Distinguished Degrees usually add another year onto the end. So a Distinguished Degree in Veterinary Medicine, studied Full Time takes 5 years but it’ll take 6 Years if studied Part Time.

Credits

Each student needs 12 credits to pass and graduate with their degree. They’ll generally take between 2 and 4 credits per term. This will depend on several factors including the length of the course and whether or not the student is studying Part Time or Full Time.

	Credits (Full Time)	Credits (Distinguished) (Full Time)	Credits (Part Time)	Credits (Distinguished) (Part Time)
Archaeology	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Art History	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Biology	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	2 Credits per year
Chemistry	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	2 Credits per year
Communications	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Computer Science	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Creative Digital Media	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Criminology	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	2 Credits per year
Culinary Arts	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Drama	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Economics	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Education	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	2 Credits per year
Environmental Science	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	2 Credits per year
Fine Arts	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Folklore & Mythology	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Health, Sport & Performance	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
History	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Language & Literature	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Music	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Painting	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Philosophy	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Photography	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Physics	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Psychology	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	2 Credits per year
Social Justice	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years
Veterinary Medicine	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years	2 Credits per year
Villainy	4 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 Credits per year	3 credits for first 2 years, 2 credits for remaining years

What I’m then doing is switching households after they get their results but before they’re asked to leave the dorms. This way they can stay in the dorms while I work with other households but not progress through their studies without me, since they generally get poor grades if they’re not in the active household.

*Probation, Suspension & Expulsion*

Probation And Suspension
In my first playthrough, I decided that if a sim was suspended twice, they were expelled from the University. This actually happened with Will, Ethan and Ellie and is why neither of them received degrees, in spite of attending Foxbury.

I am planning on changing the rules here though. I’ve been flexible with this so far but it’s been tough to keep track of who’s on probation and how many times they’ve been suspended. So probation and suspension I will leave as the game intended. However, I’m introducing some rules for expulsion.

✨ Caught Cheating. Cheating will result in automatic expulsion from either University. As I imagine this to go on a permanent record, they will not be able to enroll in either of the Universities any more. So they will need to leave the University, find a flat and get a job.

✨ Grades. If a Sim’s grades persistently are low and they’ve been suspended twice for this reason, then they will be expelled. This will be marked on a spreadsheet in future to denote how often they’ve been suspended.

This system will expand as I go, since I may think of others reasons for a full expulsion from University.

*Post-Graduate: Where To Go From Here*