I concur that 12 credits is a bit much--sim lives just aren't that long! So, I use a mod that lets you graduate with fewer credits, and also extend the life stages so university time seems more proportional. I should add that I usually don't spend more than one semester in a dorm--it can be fun for a bit, but taking classes from "home" is objectively just better I'm afraid. Also, it can be a bit of a bummer for rotational play--if you spend weeks with one sim at university, any other households can get pretty neglected, since you really CAN'T leave a university attending sim to their own devices. Depending on how much attention you want to pay to other stories, you might want to turn aging off for non-active households, or off completely. And I must admit, I haven't been as active with all the "on campus" activities cause, well...they just don't seem super interesting lol.
With that said, I still tend to really enjoy it, even with the rabbit hole classes and some other goofy things lol.
Things I like:
Meeting random sims through roommates and school organizations. It can be a fun way to create relationships with sims with similar--and not similar!--interests.
Building skills doing homework and projects and such, sometimes in areas that I might not think to have my sim build skills. Core curriculum classes usually cover at least a few different skills which is nice, and then there's electives, so it's a good way to keep your sim a bit rounded.
That career boost yo! For aspirations that require getting high up in a career, like Tech Guru for instance, I think university is TOTALLY worth it. You can work on getting your skills up and completing the early milestones while at school, then BOOM! Already at level 7 or 8 career straight out of graduation. (Just make sure obvs. that your sims major is for the careers you want them to have lol.) I even found that, if you can balance it right, you can work entry level at the career you want while going to school, then quit after graduation and re-enter skipping up the ranks, which for some stories I was doing I quite liked (tho keep in mind that is much easier to do with work from home careers, and I use some mods that make more careers have work from home options than available in the regular game).
Scholarships also feel like a nice reward for having an active, well-skilled teenager, which is pretty cool.
Finally, for me, It's just kinda nice for some stories, like I mentioned. So far, I've sent a few different sims to university. A couple were sims that had been born in game and I raised through to young adult, and sending them to university seemed like a logical next step in their lives--and the lives of their parents. One was a young adult sim I created, who ended up meeting their future spouse there (they were in the same dorm, and also had the same major). And then another was an adult sim who had put her life kinda on hold raise a child after getting unexpectedly pregnant just after high school, and went back to university to complete the degree they'd always wanted when their kid had gotten older.
So, over all, I think it's a decent pack, but as usual, a lot of it depends on what you want to do, and what you're ready to bring to it. And of course, mods. Always mods, mods, mods lol.
