Grades in University

Huh. I've now run 5 sims through university, and I never had to work on skills outside of class/homework to get an A. The couple of times I've gotten less than an A were when I'd missed large portions of certain classes (usually due to not getting to the door/building on time) or forgot to do the homework once.

I have them get to class on time (or close to it) take notes in class, do the homework, and do any term papers/presentations (which I turn in at about the half-way point in the term for papers, just before the end of term for presentations)

All five University students ended with at worst a high B for the term, and I think a solid A for their time in Uni.

(I also play on long life and have them only take three classes per term, and always start the term mid-week so I have a weekend to work on presentations and papers.)

I found If you do your homework, and you're required studies then you will get A's. I also found that if you miss a class or are late your grades we'll drop quickly.

I reallly think some kind of progress bar should have been included, similar to the promotion bar for careers. It would make the game a lot less confusing. I don't want to guess my way through.

I checked in with my tutor for one class and it said 'you are falling behind, focus on coursework and studying etc to catch up'. I studying for about 4 straight hours and increased my required skill, but when i checked in with my tutor again, i got a message saying my sim was going to fail if she didn't work harder. So even after she had completed homework, studied and improved her skill level, she was still at worse off. I haven't got to the end of this term yet but I'm pretty sure she is going to fail.

"zensluv;c-17725874" wrote:
Has anyone ever figured out the grading system, for real? I have a Sim in univeristy and took his last 4 classes to graduate... and he failed two of them. Despite going to every class, doing all the homework, and the finals/paper/presentation. Apparently there is a Skill requirement for classes... does anyone actually know how Skill-building is calculated in? Has anyone figured it out or are we all still guessing? I'm so ???? I spent all his Sim hours doing coursework and he still failed! I mean what the F? (pun intended)

I can help with this! (Hopefully.) (I think.)

I had the exact same thing happen to me. What I think kills the grade is the activities in class, if that makes sense... if you click on your Sim’s portrait while in class there’s the “work normally/ talk to classmates, etc.)

What you’re going to want to do is click on the “take notes” option. It lowers the Sim’s fun need, but it improves grades. I’m not sure what “actively listen” does, but I think it must raise either the skill, or be similar in raising the grade.

Once I made sure to check that, my Sim has been getting incredible report cards! I also found that living off campus is helpful too, because your Sim is rarely ever running through campus and resetting and whatever. Professors in game seem to really hate lateness.

Edit: when University first came out, many people were getting D’s and F’s, so they made an update that told players what each choice did, because people were going above and beyond in doing the right stuff, but it just wasn’t made clear. It sucked because I made some of my Sims drop out prior to the patch, when it was something I could’ve amended very quickly. :(

@EnkiSchmidt wrote a good summary of what helps with your grade earlier in this thread. I suggest reading his Spoiler if you're having trouble.

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/17399811/#Comment_17399811

Really? I've found it to be too easy. My Sims usually come out with A or A+. I did get a D once but only because my Sim missed a class because they were mucking around on their bike. Kept getting on and off the bike riding around the lot in Oasis Springs instead of going to class. It wasn't my fault! lol

Here is what I usually do.

- While still in high school, make the Sims work on the Research/Debate skill so they can do homework faster
- Do the homework BUT I've gotten A+ and missed homework so I don't think it's a big factor.
- When Sims to go class, choose the option to take notes for the first hour and actively listen for the next hour. You can reverse the order but doing both for awhile usually gets you the they got everything they could out of the class message.
- Start the term on a Tuesday or Wednesday so that you have the weekend to study. I study for each course only once on the weekends but I do make them study until I see the moodlet. Sometimes that takes HOURS.
- Do the presentation or write the term paper and edit until it's excellent quality. Don't forget to GIVE the presentation.
- My Sims live at home with their families so there's usually excellent food, good quality beds/showers and stuff but I don't know if mood is a big factor

It's tricky, but I always try to figure out what skill they need for each class and have them go sit in on classes or try to work on bringing up that skill somehow. I think that helps in improving them and the grade itself. If they participate in class, like either actively listen or take notes, one of them helps with skill gain or grade gain. I don't remember which one. So I always have my Sim go back and forth between those. Like have it be on one for a little bit and then change it to something else.

Edit: I've found out that having my Sim do 3 or less on classes is a big help. I tried 4 classes once and that was way too hard to keep up with. My Sim I think failed the first time and she was always unhappy because I couldn't concentrate on anything else but homework for her. If you do less classes, I don't know if it helps but there's an option on the computer to have them study more once their homework is done. I don't know if it improves the grade or not. I haven't tested it out much.

No I didn’t turn in a plagiarized paper I’ve never cheated or plagerized anything in university ever

"telmarina;c-17804000" wrote:

"Singer209;c-17803975" wrote:
I did all of that.... they maxed out each skill they need for class now and still failed despite doing all the homework, going to class with a good mood, and outstanding work, and taking notes while in class, and they emailed their professor now hey go suspended from university.

This is all i use to do and until this date my sims always have A+ at all subjects...

The best I could do was cheat her grade using the UI mod cause she had like 17 and 13 I was like what????

Lots of useful info in this thread - thanks! I had the opposite problem, I think too many of my students achieve the Honors, even if I don't really make them do anything extra. But I think there might be a big difference between sending a student right from CAS with few skills or cheated skills, and to send students who grew up in game and gathered not only skills but actually lived. I might have graduated 15-20 students, normally 5-6 sims at the time, and saw max a handful bad class grades.

Sims who failed in doing their Presentation (due to the bug where they got the wrong board) graduated with honors. I just had them read a little extra. Students won't need to do everything there is to do to reach great grades, it's the sum that counts - skip project or miss class can be helped by reading up a skill etc.