Class performance

Class performance determines the grade of a young adult Sim for each semester at college in The Sims 2: University. Class performance is gained by earning skill levels and doing class work in their major. Each major consists of eight classes, one class per semester for a maximum of eight semesters i.e. four years (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior).

If a Sim's grade is too low, they will be put on academic probation, and will repeat the semester. If they fail the semester again, they will be expelled. If the class performance meter is red, the Sim is at risk of probation; it becomes white when class performance is high enough to avoid probation. The minimum class performance needed to avoid probation increases each year. A Sim who does very well can get on the Dean's List, which is often a major want for Knowledge Sims.

For each major, each semester has a minimum requirement in two or three skills. A Sim will not be able to reach maximum class performance in a semester if they do not meet or exceed that requirement in all of those skills. Freshman and Sophomore classes have requirements in three skills, but those requirements are not particularly high. Junior and Senior classes only have requirements in two skills, but they will be two of the major's four primary skills, and the requirements are higher. A Sim will not be able to avoid probation without meeting the requirements in at least one skill.

Increasing class performance
Sims can increase their performance by:
 * Going to class
 * Doing assignments
 * Doing research
 * Writing a term paper
 * Using the "Talk about Major" interaction with a Sim who has the same major.
 * Interacting with professors (including romantic interactions and WooHoo)
 * Hacking grades
 * Being tutored
 * Influencing someone to do their assignments or write their term papers
 * Taking the final exam

Class
In The Sims 2: University, classes are one of the many ways to improve a Sim's class performance.

Sims will automatically go to class one hour before it starts. The player can keep a Sim from going to class by canceling this action while he/she is still on the lot. If the autonomous "go to class" action is canceled, the player can get the Sim to go to class by clicking on the Sim and selecting "College ... Go to Class". This can be done at any time while the class is in session, but Sims who are late to class will gain less class performance than those who are on time. Sims are not penalized for missing class.

Since the semester timer keeps running while a Sim is on a campus community lot, even though the clock on his/her home lot is stopped, Sims on campus community lots will still automatically go to class one hour before it starts. If the player does not cancel this, the game will continue to show the community lot, and the Sim will return to that lot when class is over.

The first time a Sim goes to class he/she will meet his/her professors.

All majors have a mixture of morning, afternoon, and evening/night classes. Classes normally last two hours, but some classes are three hours long. Each major has one three-hour class, and some have two.

Assignments and term papers
Sims can do assignments or write term papers to increase their class performance.

Assignments can be done by clicking on a Sim and selecting "College ... Do Assignment". The Sim will then produce a blue notebook and do the assignment, which takes one Sim-hour to finish. It a table or desk is available, the Sim will head for it, otherwise, the Sim will sit on the ground or floor to do the assignment.

The action can be canceled at any time after the Sim has put the notebook down. If it is canceled while the Sim is headed for a desk or table, he or she will still put the notebook on that surface. If the player chooses, an unfinished assignment can be completed by someone other than the Sim who owns the notebook. This can be done through influence by clicking on a Sim and choosing "Influence ... Do My Assignment" (requires 2000 influence points and an already started assignment). Also, if the notebook does not belong to the selected Sim, that Sim will still be able to work on it, and this will fulfill the want to do an assignment. Once the assignment for that notebook is completed, no matter who completes it, the Sim who owns it will gain class performance. Unlike homework, unfinished assignments can be deleted in buy mode. This is useful because uncontrolled Sims can, and very often will, do assignments autonomously. While unfinished assignments on a college community lot will be removed when that lot is exited, assignments on a residential lot will remain until they are finished or deleted.

Writing a term paper can be done once per semester, and doing so gives a huge boost in class performance. Writing a term paper is done on any computer in the college sub-neighborhood. A term paper can be started on one computer and continued on another, and takes a total of three Sim-hours to finish. Sims can also influence another Sim to write it for them by clicking on the Sim and selecting "Influence ... Write My Term Paper" (requires 2500 influence points). Writing a term paper is a major drain on a Sim's Fun motive; a Sim who writes a term paper from start to finish without taking a break will have a seriously depleted Fun meter by the time he or she finishes.

If The Sims 2: Seasons is installed, Sims will do assignments and write term papers more quickly in Fall.

Research
Although it can be done solo, doing research as a group activity allows Sims to gain class performance while socializing with others.

To do research, click on a bookcase. Once the Sim starts researching they can invite other Sims to join, and a playable Sim can be directed to join a group of Sim who are doing research. All Sims will begin to gain in relationship and class performance even if they have different majors.

Uncontrolled Sims may do research autonomously.

Final exam
Each semester has a final exam. Students are evaluated in a 0-20 scale. The player will get a notice five Sim-hours before the exam starts. The Sim's class information will be replaced by the number of hours until the exam starts. If the Sim's class starts during this time, he or she will not be able to go, even if it would finish before the exam starts. However, Sims who are at class when the five-hour warning is given will finish at the normal time. Sims will automatically go to their final exams one hour before they start. The exams themselves last two Sim-hours and missing them can be detrimental to a Sim's class performance. The final exam's grade will be averaged with the grade the student has earned during the semester.

Semester Tester
Some players would rather skip through the college years than have to go through them. With the use of testingcheatsenabled, they can easily spawn the semester tester, which can make the selected Sim graduate immediately, although the UI does not appear correctly. A message will appear saying exactly that and 'I'm sorry, but that's what you get for cheating'. But, this has been known to cause memory problems, giving the Sims positive graduation memories after they would have officially graduated. You can also boost class performance with the Semester Tester.