The Sims 3 University Life
Enrolling, Scholarships and the Aptitude Test
| Enrolling/Aptitude | Majors/Attending | PlantSims | Science | Social Networking | Street Art |
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This Guide focuses on getting Sims enrolled at the University and what you can do to make their college lifestyle better. When you start a new game with University Life, a mascot from the college will arrive on the first morning and leave a welcome kit. This kit gives you the ability to take the Sims University Aptitude Test, which will determine your Sim's Scholarship money and starting credits in each of the game's six Majors. If you did not receive one, you can find the University Welcome Kit in Buy Mode > Study > Hobbies & Skills.
Graduation Requirements
It takes 48 credits for your Sim to earn a degree. Since the most you can get from one visit to the University is 36, you require the aptitude test to do it in one pass. You do have the option to skip the test and do 3 terms at the University to graduate, which is your only option if you skipped the aptitude test before you enrolled.
Enrolling in School
Young Adults, Adults, and Elders can Enroll for classes at the Sims University. The Aptitude Test is not required, but advised. Afterward, enrolling at the University is as simple as using your Sim's smartphone or a computer. When the enrollment screen comes up, you are given the option to choose 6, 12, or 18 credit hours (1-3 classes) and select to attend for one or two terms. The details on classes and performance are located in our Attendance and Classes Guide.
Sims University Aptitude Test
The Aptitude Test looks at your Sim's skill levels, career history, and traits to determine their readiness for attending Sims University. There are bugs with this system, but when working properly the base score on each of six degree types is 100/400. So the base total score is 600. The max score is 2400, with rewards distributed in three tiers:
- 1200 Points - $1000/term Scholarship.
- 1800 Points - $2500/term Scholarship.
- 2000 Points - Nailed it +20 12h moodlet which you can get over and over by retaking the aptitude test.
On individual subjects, you earn credits toward your degree at two levels:
- 250 Points - Apprentice Award: +6 Credit Hours.
- 350 Points - Distinguished Award: +18 Credit Hours.
You keep your highest scores, and any Awards will go toward future Degrees your Sim tries to get.
Aptitude Test Scoring
Scoring goes like this:
- Skill Levels x 27 +
Career Levels x 34 +
Traits x 83
| Major | Traits | Careers | Skills |
| Business | Genius, Ambitious, Evil, Frugal, Workaholic, Born Salesman | Business, Criminal | Charisma, Social Networking, Mixology |
| Communication | Genius, Charismatic, Irresistible, Schmoozer, Flirty, Social Butterfly | Journalism, Politics, Fortune Teller | Writing, Photography* |
| Fine Arts | Genius, Avant Garde, Artistic, Natural Cook, Virtuoso, Rebellious | Culinary, Music, Film | Painting, Cooking, Guitar, Piano, Drums, Bass Guitar, Street Art, Sculpting, Nectar Making |
| Physical Education | Genius, Athletic, Loves the Outdoors | Professional Sports | Athletic, Martial Arts, Riding |
| Science and Medicine | Genius, Bookworm, Perfectionist, Socially Awkward, Green Thumb, Perceptive | Medical, Science | Fishing, Gardening, Science, Alchemy |
| Technology | Genius, Computer Whiz, Handy, No Sense of Humor, Good, Eccentric | Law Enforcement, Military | Logic, Handiness, Inventing |
* - The Sims 3 University Life gives players the Photography Skill from World Adventures
Scholarship Money
When Sims finish the Aptitude test, they may earn a scholarship which provides money toward their degree. This gives you cash to rent a house or cover costs for food and activities while on campus. If you leave the term early, you will not get to keep the spare scholarship money, though it is always available for future visits to the University based on your aptitude test results. Simply take the test again to make the money available for another term.
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Rachel says...
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I dont have the game yet but I plan on getting it because it sounds AWESOME..I was just wondering what happens the rest of your family when your yound adults go away to college??
Admin:
Nothing. Â Time freezes at home.
ReplyFlag61918th July 2013 10:26am
kittenlive says...
I discovered that the Education career is also listed under the Business Major.
16th July 2013 12:36am
David Bland says...
OK I must be REALLY missing something because I don't have a clue how to start playing the University EP.In TS2 I send my kid to college and he arrives in a cab and I select a dorm and enter. Voila!But in this game, I take the Aptitude test, enroll by phone, grab my suitcase, hop on a bot to Uni-land, but when I arrive, my Sim is nowhere to be found and I am presented with the CAS screen and told to either create a Sim or move in a household. Where is my Sim that I sent to college??
26th March 2014 7:22pm
Swannie says...
I have the same problem as david... and I've searched for it for hours and couldn't find any solutions , just a few other cases... It would be terrible if I had to start over again because I've played in this world for multiple generations and it had worked with previous generations, just not the current one.
23rd June 2018 5:20am
Mimi says...
I'm sorry, I'm still very confused about the whole 'credits' system. Can someone please clarify a bit more?
23rd December 2013 11:08am
Peter Pan says...
Hi!
so when a sim goes to school they earn "credits" for attending class and doing their homework. to finish a degree the sim must earn a spcific number of credits. so one term will not be enough time for you sim to earn the required amount of credits if they have not gone to University before.
so when a sim goes to school they earn "credits" for attending class and doing their homework. to finish a degree the sim must earn a spcific number of credits. so one term will not be enough time for you sim to earn the required amount of credits if they have not gone to University before.
29th November 2015 12:27pm
Tylan says...
I send my sim to college, and then the screen says traveling to the University.(she's from SunsetValley But when i get there it's a new game. IDK where's the sim i sent to college. it takes me to Create a sim,Choose a Household, and Move in household. What Happened
10th September 2013 11:29am
Roidh Andrasan says...
What degree would help with the firefighter profession?
Admin:
I'm fairly certain that degrees only help advance rabbithole careers not professions.
18th July 2013 2:23pm
Becca says...
How do you get Credits for your degree I got 18 from the test and my sim is on the Deans list but I'm still not getting credits also I'm level ten in all groups and it won't let me get my degree and iv done it on many games and computers it still won't give me credits toward my degree?!?!
8th September 2013 2:01pm
cas says...
I deleted my welcome kit, how do I get it back so I cant take the test again before enrolling
Admin:
It's available in buy mode. The easiest way to get it back would be to go to the University Life Collection and look for it there.
7th July 2013 7:37pm
Ella says...
My teen sim has a degree in communications all of a sudden! How did this happen??????
28th December 2013 7:30am
Nat says...
Ok so I have 2 sims (a child and a young adult) if i send the young adult to university what happens to that child?
17th April 2014 9:54pm
Gemma says...
I have completed the first two semesters at university but don't have the full credits. So I re-enroll to come back for another semester and I complete it with the progress bar full. But when I receive my grades my credits haven't changed at all and still haven't got enough credits to graduate! I have re-enrolled 5 times now and done it all again and all 5 times it's not worked. It is so frustrating and I don't know what to do?!?
29th July 2013 11:29am
Jenna says...
Thank you sooo much this helped me a lot. I got a partial scholarship soo yea. I also started my degree as an A student because of the 6 credits that i got. Thanks this was really helpful.
16th July 2013 1:52pm
christy says...
how do you get both young adults to enroll?? one has enrolled and gone to university but i cant get back for the other sim.
5th June 2014 7:34am
Ty Hanson says...
After recieving my sims first degree, which was in Business, I enrolled back to get a second degree. Upon starting the second degree, fine arts. I started out with 30 credits, and I have completed the require terms to graduate twice now, but I never get the full 48 credits. It is staying at 30. When I get my report card, it shows that I am taking the Business Major, and not fine arts.
Anyone else having this issue, or am I doing something wrong
Admin:
When you go to school to start the new session, you are absolutely certain you are signing up for Fine Arts on the main screen?
13th July 2013 4:29pm
christy says...
i have one sim in university but how do i get the other one to go as cant get back to house. is there another way of doing it?
5th June 2014 8:03am
Annamarie says...
once your sim has finished uni (at the end of week one if doing one term, week two if doing two terms) they go back to their original house after the graduation ceremony. If you want to send both sims to uni together while on the screen that sends them to uni i think you can pick both sims I am sure I had both of my sims go uni to gether doing different degrees
14th June 2014 11:52am
Kristol says...
Thank you soooo much!!! I love the sims 3 and everytime i get a new game, before i get them i look up on your guide through that expansion pack for tips!! This site really helps me out!! A LOT!!!
30th January 2014 4:53pm
Tylan says...
I recommend people who want to buy The Sims 3 University life that you check out what people have to say about it before purchasing the item. EA should have COMPLETELY perfected the game before releasing it. There are to many problems with the game.and BTW the campus is depressing and dull. I wish Generations was still in stock.
11th September 2013 11:19am
Melanie Hoyle says...
When I re-enroll I no longer have a professor, anyone know why this is and how to fix it? I'm getting crappy credits at the end despite doing everything I should and having a maxed out academic progress bar.
13th February 2014 11:08pm
Sophie says...
As a lot of others have complained. I don't understand the credits system at ALL! I can't remember how many credits my Sim got from the aptitude test, but after the exams in the first term (I enrolled for 2) I had 18. I attended all classes and studied hard and maxed one of the skills and had the performance bar topped up at all times. Yet now that I'm about to graduate I still only have 18? So if someone could be a bit more specific than "study and show up to class" that'd be lovely. Because I did that and didn't get any credits for it (apparently).
2nd January 2014 7:08pm
kendra says...
When I send my sims to college and after they graduate they go home and I can't play them anymore. Then I have to create new sims and start all over... please help me
Admin:
It sounds like you have a bug and if you keep recreating Sims it keeps happening. Have you tried clearing your caches? Going back to a save before graduation? Does it happen in every save or just the same one you've been trying?
29th July 2013 12:02am
Lynn says...
I just bought university life had an existing family tried to send one sim to university at first everything looks good he takes his bag and leaves but then game loads like i'm starting brand new game. Do they have to already be living in university life world?
15th October 2013 1:41pm
Babaloo says...
Actually, you put the bookworm trait in the science and medicine degree category instead of communications category.
In my game when i'm in CAS it says the bookworm trait will benefit you in the pursuit of a communications degree from the Sims University.
In my game when i'm in CAS it says the bookworm trait will benefit you in the pursuit of a communications degree from the Sims University.
30th November 2013 10:23am
Rachel says...
How do you earn credits while at University? I havent earned enough to graduate and Im wondering if I ever will!?! Please Help
6th October 2013 1:59pm
Melanie Hoyle says...
Why would level 2 Law Enforcement give 3x34? Wouldn't it be 2x34?
Admin:
You're right - upgraded example to level 3 Law Enforcement to keep the math the same :)
13th February 2014 6:24am
JackYO says...
I have a question maybe someone could answer for me? I have earned all 6 degrees with flying colors. I loved The University Life my sim went through. Now, is there anyway my sim could go back to university and do it all over again?? I miss it so much lol...I miss the dorms, the sims, the whole aspect of the town. Is there anyway I could go back to University without creating a new sim?
11th August 2015 9:50pm
comzi says...
I have a question. When you enroll you choose for example 24 credits for 2 terms, but do you have to get all of them or maybe you get them depending on how much you work?
7th May 2013 11:07am
Kristol says...
Sophie, when you first enroll you get to pick how many credits you want... The you get out and you enroll again, you said you had 18 credits for the 2nd enrollment and you have to go up to 48 credits, so you started out with 36 credits +18 so you got to max!!! So therefor you graduated!!
30th January 2014 4:58pm
sabrina says...
Hey, thanks for the guide. The problem I'm having is, I take the test and I enroll into university. But when the town loads I can't find my Sim.
Please help, thanks!
Please help, thanks!
22nd May 2013 3:19pm
Dafne says...
When your sim finishes a term, just wait and do whatever you want in the dorm it will automatically say "travel home" just don't click drop out of university. Then, it's going to take you to the map view and you just wait and something will pop up saying "the term is over" etc etc.
14th May 2013 4:48pm
gjammer says...
Is it better to send experienced sims, that is, those that lived as a child, teen, young adult to university, rather than newly minted sims who were created for the sole purpose of going to university?
Admin:
No real benefit either way. The skilling that occurs there will aid the grade so it is better to send a sim with low skills so that they can improve their skills and university grade at the same time. So brand new sims are just as 'good' to play at university as game-aged sims.
29th July 2018 11:42pm
edgar says...
IF you talk to your assigned professor you can get a task which rewards additional credits towards your degree(social-> Work relationshps).If you are lucky you can meet your professor at the kick-off event at the start of the week on sunday.So far I have to find out how many credits one can earn - I am short of 6 credits towards the next degree.
12th July 2017 2:33pm
Amethyst says...
How do you know how many credit hours you have?
Admin:
Guide to university here Aptitude Test and Credits Needed
26th June 2017 1:56am
Jazz says...
So my sim has finished a 2 term credit thing and is missing 6 credits. How do I reenroll them in classes? It only gives me the option of dropping out.
7th May 2013 11:15pm
summer says...
I wanna ask.. My sim took the aptitude test and then went to university, but after loading, there wasn't my sim.. It asked me to make the new one, moving in or choose the household. I did which admin said, but after loading to the university, it was still in hometown, it didn't change to university lot. Is it a bug? What should I do then?
Admin:
It's a bug. You're going to end up having to revert to a former save.
9th July 2013 10:31pm
summer says...
I've tried it many times, but nothing changed. How to fix it?
Admin:
This is an old travel bug from back when World Adventures first came back. It's not fixable if using Edit Town didn't work. You're going to have to go back to before the Sim went to university. Don't forget to clear cache files. Or this Sim may not be able to go at this time. Wait a day or two and do something different to see if that makes a difference.
10th July 2013 12:05am
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