 Game guides
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 The Sims
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 The Sims 2
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 The Sims 4
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Getting into Private School
The uniform worn by those who attend private school
This article describes features that are only available in The Sims 2. In this game guide, readers will learn how to successfully complete the Headmaster scenario, and therefore get the children/teens of the household into private school.
Beforehand[]
Players must have a child or older Sim call the Headmaster and invite him over by using the "Invite Headmaster" option on the telephone. However, the household must contain a child or teen Sim with a minimum grade of C before the option becomes available on the telephone.
- Tips
- The Headmaster scenario can be glitchy, so call as close to 5pm as possible. Save just before calling, and don't save or leave the home lot while the scenario is in progress.
- That way, if it does end up glitching, you can simply exit without saving and reload the save to try again.
- Another reason for this is that certain mods may delete the needed Scenario Controller that spawns with the Headmaster when the lot is loaded, which aborts the scenario immediately.
- Make sure that the Headmaster's car door is not obstructed by objects such as the mailbox or the trashcan. If the Headmaster cannot get out of his car, he will just leave.
- Check to make sure that all doors are unlocked when the Headmaster visits. If he finds himself locked out, he will reject the child(ren) outright.
- Don't leave the Headmaster waiting outside for too long. If you leave him ungreeted for more than 40 in-game minutes, he will depart and reject the child(ren) outright.
Scenario[]
Greeting the Headmaster
Once called, the Headmaster will arrive at 5pm and a 6-hour scenario will start when he is greeted. The player has to reach a score of at least 90 points to get the family's kids/teens accepted into private school. There are three main tasks that can be performed to build the score. To offer the Headmaster a tour of the house, or invite him to dinner, click on him and select an interaction under the "Entertain..." category. To schmooze, click on him and select a "Schmooze..." interaction.
House Tour[]
To begin the house tour, click on the Headmaster and use the Entertain... > Give Tour interaction. The Sim that initiated it then needs to walk to every room of the house (including the yard) and select the Show Room interaction on the Headmaster once he has entered the room. The Headmaster will shake his head, shrug, or cheer after the interaction is selected, and the scenario dialog in the corner of the screen will update, but there will be no other visual clue that the room was shown. The tour ends either when 40 Tour Points are reached, or when the End Tour interaction is selected on the Headmaster.
- Tips
The scores as they appear in-game
- The Headmaster rates a room based on his current Environment motive in that room:
- Environment of +60 or higher: 15 points and a positive reaction.
- Environment of +30 to +59: 10 points and a positive reaction.
- Environment of +0 to +29: 6 points and a neutral reaction.
- Environment below 0: 1 point and a negative reaction.
An example of a positive reaction from the Headmaster
- Therefore, you will want to make sure this motive is as high as possible, using:
- Expensive furniture
- Decorational items like plants, sculptures or rugs
- For the outside: Trees and a maintained garden
- Items that will lower the room score include:
- It's a good idea to have two parents at home, with one giving the tour while the other parent cooks the food. Try to keep the kid(s) out of the way. Alternatively, the player can have the child give the tour.
- Caution: Using any form of teleportation will not speed up the tour as the headmaster will not do the same; furthermore, it has a chance of causing the same alarm signal normal Sims give off, slowing it down.
Dinner[]
To prepare dinner for the Headmaster, have a Sim, preferably with a high Cooking skill, cook a meal. Once the meal has been made and served, select Entertain... > Call for Dinner by clicking on the Headmaster. Be sure that the meal has been served, or that individual plates have been prepared, before selecting this option, otherwise the Headmaster will not respond. This category's score will be posted in the dialog box once the meal is over, along with any Schmooze points that were earned during the meal.
- Tips
- The Food Score equals to half the amount of Hunger points that the Headmaster gained through the food he ate. Meals that take more complex steps to cook, and meals that require a higher Cooking skill to make, fill the Hunger motive up more, thus scoring a higher amount of points for the scenario, too.
- Chef Salad is the worst choice of dinner for the Headmaster, worse even than the most basic dinner a Sim can make, Mac and Cheese. If your Sim has the Cooking skill points needed to make Chef Salad, Hamburgers are a much, much better choice to serve to him.
- If your Sim has the Family aspiration, Grandma's Comfort Soup is also a reasonable choice.
- Sims that are especially versed in the kitchen should prepare meals like Pork Chops, Baked Alaska, or Lobster Thermidor as these fill the Headmaster's appetite considerably better.
- Using homegrown produce in Seasons will double the score you obtain.
- The witch spell "Creatum Nutrimens" can be used to summon a meal, but the food it summons is completely random, so the Headmaster may not like the result as much.
- If there is only one adult or elder in the household or if the player is worried about the time limit, Sims can prepare the food ahead of time, place it in their inventory, then take it out and serve it when the Headmaster arrives.
- Scoring for the dinner portion of the scenario depends on how satisfied the Headmaster is with his food. It is not necessary to have other household members eat; they will socialize with the Headmaster even if they are just sitting at the table while he eats.
- Be sure to always choose "Entertain... Call for Dinner" from the Headmaster's pie menu. Never choose "Call to Dinner... Everyone" from the meal's pie menu. This will only earn three points, as it will not count as part of the scenario.
- While dinner table conversation with the Headmaster will contribute to the Schmooze score, dinner table conversation also significantly increases the amount of time Sims take to eat a meal. Sims can take at least two game hours to eat a meal if they are socializing while they eat, so be sure to allow enough time for them to finish the meal before the timer runs out.
- Having more than one household member share the dinner table with the Headmaster is a calculated risk; it may boost the Schmooze score, or may keep it down. This is because the player has no control over whether the household members will build relationships with the Headmaster or with one another.
Schmooze[]
The schmoozing element of the scenario involves building the Headmaster's relationships with the household members. The more the daily relationship between the Headmaster and a Sim in the household grows, the more the Schmooze score grows. There is a specific Schmooze interaction, but other actions which build the Headmaster's relationship with a household member, such as talking around the dinner table, will contribute to this score.
To Schmooze with the Headmaster, click on him and select Schmooze... and one to four options will appear: Schmooze about School, Work, Money, or Politics. Options other than Schmoozing about School will only appear when the Sim's relationship with the Headmaster grows.
The maximum score you can get for Schmoozing is 60 Schmooze Points.
- Tips
- Whether a Schmooze interaction succeeds or not is based on randomness, but also on the Sim's respective interest in the topic. For example, if a Sim has 6 Interest points in Work, and they Schmooze about Work with the Headmaster, the interaction will have a 60% chance to be successful.
- Interests in the game are, in an unmodded game, tied to the Sim's age, so it can make sense to get Children or Teens to Schmooze with the Headmaster. They usually have a higher interest in School topics.
- If the player uses the Testingcheatsenabled cheat, the player can easily make their Sim acquainted with the Headmaster. Attention should be given as the game does cap the score you can get from a single Sim at 20 points. However, if you keep the daily relationship just under 50, you'll actually get more than 20 points.
- The "Friendship" manipulation of a voodoo doll has the same effect as it immediately befriends the Sim using the doll with the Headmaster.
Bonus Scoring[]
Getting the Headmaster to do any of these things once will earn an extra 10 points:
- Getting into a hot tub (though it can be hard to get him out, unless you have the respective fix).
- Drinking coffee or espresso.
- Have a drink from the bar.
- Tips
- Players who use the coffeecuphack from More Awesome Than You! may want to consider removing or disabling it before calling the Headmaster, unless they don't plan to serve him coffee or espresso. Occasionally, the mod may cause a "jump bug" to occur when a Sim washes a coffee cup in a sink. While this is only a mild annoyance if it happens to a household member, the Headmaster will vanish if it happens to him.
- Testingcheatsenabled can be used to make the Headmaster selectable. This may be useful if he gets in a hot tub and will not get out.
Afterwards[]
Shaking hands with the Headmaster after 90 points have been earned
As soon as the total score breaks the 90-point requirement, the headmaster will leave, even if there's time remaining on the clock, and the child/teen will be allowed into private school. The next weekday, the accepted Sim will change into a uniform and then board the school bus as normal. If the time limit expires and the score has not been met, players can try again the next day.
- Caveats
- There are a few conditions under which the Headmaster may not accept, or seem to not accept any kids into private school, even if the points requirement has been met:
- If a kid has a sufficient grade of C or higher before the Headmaster is called on the phone to come over, but gets slipping grades after that call, the Headmaster will reject them anyway. That's why it makes sense to wait to call him over until after all children are back from school.
- Using certain mods and cheats, it is possible to have more than seven children or teens in one household. If all of them meet the grade requirements to get into private school, the Headmaster may at first seem overwhelmed by the amount of new students and reject all of them, but this is simply a quirk of the way the scenario is coded - eligible children and teens will still get in as they should!
- Unlike many other NPC's, the Headmaster's motives decay like any other Sim's. If his Hunger or Social needs drop too low, he will end the meeting immediately and reject your kids, even if the points requirement had been met by that point.
- You will, however, know when it's time to act, as the game informs you when he gets hungry or bored.
- Final Tips
- There are multiple Headmasters in a neighborhood; if "Invite Headmaster" is used multiple times, there will be a different one each time.
- Each Headmaster has his own personality and interests, so Sims who have little success at schmoozing with one may do better with another.
- A Sim who has met a Headmaster through the scenario cannot directly call him on the phone, but he may call the Sim. However, like other NPCs who are not easily available through the phone, they can be invited to parties and can be chatted with on the computer.
- If the player's Sim is pregnant and they want the child to get in to private school, making one of the parents study cooking and the other to get a well-paid job will improve their score in a future tour.
- All children and teens in the household who meet the minimum grade are covered by the Headmaster's decision even if they were not the ones who applied. However, babies and toddlers who age up after the Headmaster's visit, as well as Sims who are born or added to the household after the visit, will need to apply for private school separately.
