I don't really like University.

[May93]

I just can't be bothered with sending sims through it, it takes forever
Is there anyway I can make the jobs from it available in a different way?

[annoainthere]

Not that I know of, but I use a hacked object to get them through university faster which I think is on this site.... here it is http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=205632 - speeds up University by graduating your Sims. I use it quite a bit. Best solution I've found.

[perihelion]

You just don't know how to use your Sims' time constructively. When they're not at class or doing assignments, they should be skilling up, earning badges and making money to put toward a nice house or even going on vacation. By the time Claire Thiessen graduated, she had full skills (and completed her LTW as a result), got a girlfriend, gained a nice collection of talent badges and had §50,000 to build a house with. Make their time count!

[sushigal007]

There's a fake diploma somewhere, but I can't be bothered to look for it right now. Also I believe the Batbox has an option to 'upgrade' a sim to university status. There are also mods to make college faster.

[victory101]

There's a fake diploma somewhere, but I can't be bothered to look for it right now. Also I believe the Batbox has an option to 'upgrade' a sim to university status. There are also mods to make college faster.

It does. I use it all the time on my CAS adult sims. It's a nice alternative if you can't stand sending your teens off at all.

You just don't know how to use your Sims' time constructively. When they're not at class or doing assignments, they should be skilling up, earning badges and making money to put toward a nice house or even going on vacation. By the time Claire Thiessen graduated, she had full skills (and completed her LTW as a result), got a girlfriend, gained a nice collection of talent badges and had §50,000 to build a house with. Make their time count!

Just using your sims' time more constructively will not automatically make Uni time more fun, though, and your definition of constructive time use isn't the same as everyone elses'. I, personally, don't enjoy over-skilling my sims like that; it makes the game way too easy once they leave college, and I find it pretty boring just making them work-work-work.

Instead, I like to let my sims decide how to spend their Uni time - I grant wishes on overdrive and the only sims that get straight As or extra skills are the ones that actively want them. They'll have plenty of time for skilling and badges when they're adults; why not let them enjoy the last few days of irresponsibility and freedom they have left? (Aside from the part time jobs they sometimes have to take on to pay off their debts XD Adding Uni fees adds a whole new dimension to everything; slacker sims suffer for it when they're out of college, while ambitious ones do well... if they don't crack from the pressure first :P Which just makes it more fun to let them run free and dictate their own lives for a while.)

TL;DR different simmer, different play styles, and all are awesome. May93, check out the batbox to solve your immediate problem, and if you ever feel like giving Uni another shot, try playing in a different way. You might find something that suits you and makes it more fun :)

[strawberrysmile22]

I actually think University is one of those EPs that brings a lot more to the game. It seems like a necessary add on. And I loved sending my sims to College! If I was bored of my normal neighbourhood I could just go off to the campus an play! :D

[May93]

I just found that I have an item called "job notice board" that lets a sim pick any job... it let me get a random sim the paranormal career (that is one that they normally have to go through uni for, right?) so I think my problem is solved.
I have a bunch of teen sims who I'm going to send to uni when I feel like it which I don't know when that will be . I turn ageing off for them at the moment. (I seem to have gone off my old stlye of playing where my goal was to make my sims age as fast as possible)

[VerDeTerre]

The fake diploma is by Christianlov and it's great for changing majors too and for giving a college education to townies and others who missed the opportunity.

http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=289704

I also like the mod that cuts down the time of each semester that annoainthere suggested. In my opinion, it makes the uni experience last just long enough to keep it interesting and challenging.

[annoainthere]

The fake diploma is by Christianlov and it's great for changing majors too and for giving a college education to townies and others who missed the opportunity.

http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=289704

I also like the mod that cuts down the time of each semester that annoainthere suggested. In my opinion, it makes the uni experience last just long enough to keep it interesting and challenging.

Yes, I also use the fake diploma and like to use the other hack to shorten the period of time they are there for, otherwise it gets annoying. On the other hand if I have a group of teens ready to go, then I'll put them in the same dorm together, that way it's a bit more fun to play, then on a sim-by-sim basis.

[julmoo]

I am split on university. On the one hand I use it to skill my Sims, make friendships, have them find their mates, etc.
On the other hand it's still boring as hell to me. Even with my faster university hack (1 semester = 24 hours) I am still glad that it's finally over and I dread the next generation rolling those university wants obsessively.

[M.M.A.A.]

I have been using mods like Insimenator and Simblender to give adults the Uni careers. Simblender seems to work better than Insimenator for that purpose though.

Anyway, Uni can be fun, if you have places that hold certain objects that allow fun activities. Don't place a bookshelf at home, build a library and get your sims there to do their work and socialize.

[Amairani]

When I don't intend a Sim to go thru Uni yet want him/her to have a job available only to Uni graduates, I use Monique's Hacked computer, it allows to pick any career existing in Sims 2 games

[Lerf1950]

With boolprop testingcheatenabled true you can shift/click on the newspaper and choose any job you want and set it to any level you want.

[moonlight_frog]

University is great if you have the extra time, but I chose not to install it with my current game; I just feel like it takes too long to get through all of the YA's life without cheats.

The only thing I really miss is the lack of resurrection and cowplant. Otherwise, I'm (currently) pretty happy without it. It seems like most people love University, though.

[TortureTheNannies]

University EP specific jobs would be lost, the upper level of any job you do have is easy to get from other EPs . i agree with frog. i wish I had a cow-plant. i never bought university and live without it.. Toga parties? Please...

[M.M.A.A.]

University is great if you have the extra time, but I chose not to install it with my current game; I just feel like it takes too long to get through all of the YA's life without cheats.

That's probably because of the way you do rotations (if you do rotations, that is). If you do rotations, don't play in Uni the all 4 years altogether, instead, for example, my rotations are usually 2 days, and 2 days are actually 2 years in the base hood, while in Uni, its 2 years. Still, long, but at least I'm not really bored with it.

[AlexandraSpears]

The thing with born in game Sims is lots of times they have a ton of skills by the time they get to college. So I just use the Sim Manipulator to fast-forward the clock...the minute the performance meter is filled, off they go to finals.

Someone on MATY said that during fall, a term paper and one class are enough to fill it up. I'd wondered about that! There are times when it takes only that; others when it takes a term paper, a couple classes, and one or two assignments! (So if you REALLY want to speed it up change all seasons to fall.)

Since for me university is a detour, Sims in the base 'hood are not aging. What if you have a set of twins, one goes to college, and the other doesn't?

[Saturnfly]

The last group (I always send in groups) of YA's I had in uni were all complete slobs. They lived in a tiny flat previously owned by another group of students. It was badly damaged, everything was mucky, the toilet was always broken and was never fixed, same with the shower. I also recently installed ACR so their relationships with each other were of more importance than their GPA's, which surprisingly were always filled up before exams.

In fact, if you've ever seen The Young One's television series, it felt very similar to that sort of environment.

I've lost interest in them, now that they have graduated. It was certainly the most fun I've had playing students, mainly because I didn't follow my instinctive rules to make everyone a perfectly dull student.

Break the rules, it's fun.

[lauratje86]

What if you have a set of twins, one goes to college, and the other doesn't?
I can't speak for anyone else, but I send sims to college with two days of teendom remaining, then when they graduate I use the Simblender to age them by 6 days, so that they're six days into their adult life. As I play one day in the main 'hood as equal to one semester, this keeps twins at the same age even if one goes to college and the other doesn't :-)

[M.M.A.A.]

The thing with born in game Sims is lots of times they have a ton of skills by the time they get to college.

Not mine. Mine have few points for some skills before college. By the time they finish college, they end up filling half (and a bit more) of their skills. After that, some might complete a skill or just let it where it is.

[AlexandraSpears]

Get the Education bookcase and they're skilling like crazy. Especially Fortune and Knowledge Sims--they want to win scholarships.

[katya_stevens]

I only force sims (in non-challenge 'hoods) to skill either if they have the want to do so or if they need skill points for a promotion and have the motivation to skill up, otherwise it's all autonomous. I did have one sim head off to university with eight points in Logic, but most of her other skills were zero-point so it made it more of a challenge building up the skills for class (especially with a slower skilling mod).

For my university playstyle, I find breaking it up in to one year sections easiest -- with one 'hood where I use a slow aging mod and play one year rotations, I find it interesting getting to university. One household has their own business, trying to juggle keeping their business running with gaining funds for a household once they've graduated; another has twin brothers and their girlfriends and have only just arrived, although I am waiting for at least one of them to get pregnant.

I also follow wants, so unless a sim is high motivation they can only graduate with a 4.0 if they constantly and consistently roll the want to do their term papers or get on the Dean's list. With slower skilling it could take the whole semester to get their skills up high enough to write a term paper, and there have been one or two sims who, five hours before their final exam, decide they want to do their term paper now.

[MarylenaSTAR]

University is SO useful for getting skills and making friends, makes promotions ALOT easier when they are adults. PLUS I love college! the mascots, the streakers. I love having the greek houses and parties. SO much fun to play!

[VampDeLeon]

I tend to use University as a gleeful excuse for my sims to start seriously dating (sure, I usually have my teens get their first kiss and everything over with, but the schoolwork and jobs have their downtime cut short). Thinking about it, University is way more relaxing than the regular sim world. My sims are academically and career-wise successful, but they're not burnouts :).

Have them join Greek houses, as soon as you get enough friends, and family in there it becomes even easier to get the future generations to go Greek straight away. Think about the order you send your teens to college, and whether they're all connected friend-wise before going. The way I have it, due to a lil overpopulation, I raised enough scholarship money for 4 to have their own greek house, or otherwise drop them at a dorm, switch to the greek home have them invite the new young adult friends over and instant pledging. The classes are short, 2-4 hours maximum with the rest of the day at their disposal to skill, write a term paper and do an assignment or two if they're going for 4.0. Really not much work if you continually send them to class and are skilled past the minimum.

Now with all that free time, I just let them meet new people, see how they're compatible and go on plenty of dates, the money comes piling in from their good grades and everything during every term. Reward them by going shopping for a new wardrobe and look every year. Throw some parties or just invite a lot of friends over to chill in the tub or blow some bubbles with them. Great stuff, this ep.

Only thing I wish though is that when more than one person has graduated and I decide to throw a graduation party, it would be nice if all the other graduates changed into the cap and gown as well and have them leave at the same time (and not just those friends invited through the phone).

[ella_in_wonderland]

I never used to send sims to university, but after downloading the hack to make it faster, I quite like it! The only thing is, I don't like it how teenagers of any age (my calculations say that they are about 15-16 when they age into teens) can go to college. Where I live teenagers finish school after eighteen and only head to college when they're about 19 generally. So I like to wait until they're in their late teens until I send them off :)

[leo06girl]

I used to use the InSimenator to get them to graduate quickly. There was a part of it (insimenator) where you could set the time until the final exam to two Sim hours. Which is what I did a lot.