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.

Young Adults look similiar to Adults, but have Teen sim voices, and move slightly slower then Adults sims.

A teen sim (right) about to transition to a Young Adult and go off to college

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. Sims also have the option of staying an additional 72 hours to say goodbye and hold a Graduation Party.

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.

Young adults have Majors instead of Careers. They can make money by working in the Dormitory cafeteria or as a barista. They can also earn money at the end of each semester for their grades. How well they have done academic wise determines the amount of money given each semester.