Young adult

Young Adult is an optional life stage added to The Sims 2 with the University expansion pack. When a teen sim moves out to go to college, he or she transitions into a young adult and remains one for the duration of his or her college years. Because the young adult stage is directly linked to college, it works a bit differently than the other five stages. Rather than being measured in days, the young adult stage is measured in semesters. The age bar on a young adult, instead of displaying how many days left in the stage as with other ages, displays what year of college the young adult is currently in (freshman, sophomore, etc...) and how many hours until their next final exam. Sim semesters last for 72 hours each, and there are 8 semesters in a full college experience, meaning that under normal circumstances the young adult stage actually lasts 24 days. Dropping out, getting expelled, or getting put on academic probation can alter this.

Completing each of the 4 years brings a very valuable upgrade to a Sim's capabilities:


 * Freshman: 5th want slot;
 * Sophomore: Opportunity to change aspiration;
 * Junior: Ability to lock 2 wants/fears instead of just one;
 * Senior: 6th want slot.

Young adults can only reside in the "college towns"; they cannot live in the base neighborhood. Sims leaving college, for whatever reason, automatically transition to adults. However, young adults can visit their families in the base neighborhoods if invited via the telephone.

Young adults keep the same aspiration they chose as teens. However, at the start of their junior year of college, they have the opportunity to change their aspiration if the player so chooses.