A Brutally Honest Review of The Sims 4 Discover University 

Thank you for watching the review! Make sure to check out my Parenthood review next - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NBU0Fya8sBI.html

I'm just so mad that we couldn't turn the teaching career into a live mode career with High School Years. Such a missed opportunity.

I think an absolute MUST HAVE for discover university is the shorter uni time mod, or disabling aging during uni. If you don't go to uni IMMEDIATELY after aging your teen sim up into a YA, then you'll have a really old sim once you come out of uni xD and it's just so stupid. In ts3 uni, it auto-disabled aging at uni no matter what life span you set your save to have

This was one of their packs where I really felt the limitations of the sims4 , they clearly didn't design the game to support a setting like this.

No matter what I do, my Sims are always late for class. Even when I teleport them in front of their class building. The bikes just further complicate this. Wish the dorms were better too

honestly the "no kitchen" thing almost made my sim starve when I first played this pack. Don't understand why they did that

Interesting test I did with this pack: I sent one sim into the tech career the same day I started her brother at university to get a degree for the tech career. By the time he finished university ( fast tracked with 4 courses over three in game weeks) she was promoted to level five already. So even getting a degree to start at a higher level was pointless. 🤷‍♀️

I don’t have this pack, because real uni was traumatizing enough. However. I NEVER thought about how the world is set in England, but uses the American uni system. That is absolutely hilarious. ☠️

I had my sim attend uni from home and it was actually preferrable. I could still do stuff and interact with family and friends and do the work without all the insufferable loading screens of moving around a world.

Yes to having your Sims being able to spend time at home! I was so confused when I sent my Sim home for a visit and she got yelled at for taking a shower. Like, that should never happen, not when you're family. Can you imagine your parents yelling at you for cooking in their home? No matter in what kind of house you live, you should always be able to go home.

I’ve always thought of the two universities as emulating Harvard and MIT, two universities that are very close to one another but quite different

I like how they gave us bicycles but made them completely unusable in Foxburry where stairs are e v e r y w h e r e

I like this pack very much, but I'm surprised you didn't talk about what I think is a major problem : it takes AGES to graduate ! I use a mod to make university degrees require less credits, otherwise the whole process becomes so draining and repetitive! Also, if you have Sims in university, and want to go back playing another household, it will interfere with your students results, causing them eventually to fail! Other than that, I think it's an enjoyable pack. I've never tried the secret societies though. Maybe I should, I was too lazy I guess. Thank you for the video, see you in the next one :)

With how restrictive they made University, they should have made an "aging off" bubble the way they did for Sims 2 and 3. I mean in Sims 2 young adult only existed at university, but you weren't gonna run out of life attending. I do find to rotate my families the way I'd like in Sims 4, I have to be very aware of when to turn to clock off for a bit anyway. Like there are certain career grinds where I want to play it to a certain level without missing the whole life and aging up of my other families.

It frustrates me that every sim can get school or work off for holidays except for university students.

The antii-cooking thing in dorms is so svere here in the us that theres an entire catalogue of Dorm recipes. They require you to purchase a "dining package" and you are really only supposed to eat in the cafeteria and you cant withdrawal that money

Everytime I make my sim go to college I just choose the option to do it from home bc is such a nightmare to get the family back to how it was when they leave. Random babies appear in the household, pets and elders start to die... it's just not worth the stress!

A great and fair review! This is one of my favorite packs, even with the frustrstions, because it lends itself to replayable day-to-day gameplay for my legacy families. I have found ways to circumvent the more difficult obstacles, like living at home to make attending classes easier or starting my semester on a wednesday so i have the weekend to catch up on classwork.

About the housing situation: where i live (not north america, but eastern europe) it's perfectly normal to share a bedroom with someone (it's actually rare and very luxurious if someone has a room for themselves), but I agree that at a british-style university they should have followed the british norms - though, at the sims 3 game dorms had shared bedrooms as well. What I think is that the absence of a kitchen is much worse and everytime i even TRY to use the dorms in the game, hell breaks loose and I have to get my sims out immediately because they are on the verge of starvation. I find them very disappointing because of how messy they are, and yes sure I can build a 'dorm' for myself and have roommates if I want to do it well, I just think the fact that these buildings are unusable in a university game pack takes away a lot from gameplay. I also don't like how whenever I choose to use dorms (rarely), my sims literally MOVE in and I can't go back to the house I had beforehand lmao - maybe it's just my game though. About societies, my issue is that there are not many options. I'm glad that there are robots or you can play soccer or e-sports as a career, but I wish there were stuff like "dance class" or ballet, figure skating, gardening etc. for sims with different interests. More sports would have been nice, at the very least. I remember in the sims 3 you could choose from a bunch of sports to have your sim do. They were rabbit hole events but still

What you said about Uni taking up so much of your time when you're doing 4 classes is so true. That's why I stopped sending my Sims to Uni. I don't want to play with aging off, I want the game to progress naturally. And I hate that all they do for their whole young adult life is doing homework. No time to have fun.

In America, due to fires started on campus, they stopped allowing cooking in dorms, you can't even own a hot plate. Therefore, noodles and ironed grilled cheese sandwiches are a thing. (Some dorms won't even allow microwaves) And yes, college roommates is a thing, rarely would you have your own room. It is not unusual for there to be many visitors in the dorms, so I guess this, too, is on brand. In America, if your roommate dies, you get an a for the semester.

Can you imagine if they did a pack refresh for this added extra courses and lessons for the newer packs?! Damn...

When I went to college (the southern United States), the room had no cooking stuff. For about $200 we rented a microwave and minifridge, but some people didn’t rent one. We were not allowed to have any coffee makers or waffle makers. (People still snuck them in though)

Really? No multiple beds in one room in UK? I wish Poland had this. I was couple of times visiting my friends in their dormitories and... I can't imagine sharing w room and space with complete stranger, but it is how it is. So it's not only USA thing Satch 🙃 I have to agree with strange lack of kitchen. There was always one per floor at my university dorms

In the dorms, I found that random roommates would bring in serving platters of food, and leave them in common areas to help yourself from. Only of course they spoil after a certain timeframe like normal. You can get a mini fridge for your dorm room and microwave to be able to make basic food for yourself. Also the roommates play violins ALL THE TIME and then sit on your bed and stop you from sleeping in it, but it’s alright really other than those points.

Did Satch accidently click the premiere button💀

the live premiere was so fun! pls do it more often

American Universities are known for having many restrictions on cooking appliances although many do have a common area kitchen (usually small but still there). Also I don't think the university pack is culturaly British but rather more of an ivy league aesthetic as well as a modern university aesthetic. Like the older university is Harvard and the modern one is more akin to like UCLA

Hey Satch! Can you do your honest opinion about city living next? 💗

What I will say is I don't *think* it was meant to be British inspired. In the US two of the most famous universities: brownstone old conversative Harvard and Techie modern MIT, are in the same colonial town. So I think the base is that. It also explains the dorm style.

always love these reviews and your honesty :D please do more of these premieres it was so fun to chat along!

The parts of university you call annoying i call realistic: one bedroom? Yep. No kitchen? Yep. Having to trek across campus only at an exact hour or you starve until the next day? Unfortunately. Glad shanice is going through it like I am😭

Omg a new review. I Love the brutally honest review series so much.😊

Hey Satch! I think you should do a video of all Sims 4 DLC's ranked in a tier list (basicly an upgraded video of your old tier list).

Not being able to cook is the whole reason my Sims never move to University lol. They attend classes from home :D it always drove me mad with how restrictive they made Uni. I love the CAS items for sure though!!!

Fox bury reminds me of UEA where I studied abroad. Yes I had a small little room with its own little bathroom then a common kitchen!

Colleges do not always have kitchens you usually have to go to the common areas for food. But some dorms do have kitchens

glad i watched this review, i'm considering buying it while the sale is on but I'm already a stressed college student and having to deal with sims in college might just be the last straw that pushes me to drop out lmfao

I always play with Autonomy for the sims off because of the glitches with autonomy

yeah the bikes suck. there are two houses where you can also live as a student. i think there was no stove there but the roommates brought food that you could eat and put in the fridge. so there was always food when you just put it in the fridge.

In one gameplay, I had my sim that I created get a roommate for her house in Copperdale fairly early on. The roommate sim would go on to marry Candy Behr, so I had them move to Windenberg while Candy's sister Yuki moved in with my original sim. Because Yuki was a teen, this allowed me to experience high school (I have the Get Together, Discover University, and High School expansion packs btw) from her perspective. When Yuki graduated from high school, I had her go to Foxbury Institute, and I won't lie, the layout left a lot to be desired. The dorms had no kitchen, so the Commons and a booth by the main lecture building were the only ways to grab food, unless a sim in a dormmate's social circle brought food over or you went somewhere else for food. I also felt disappointed that I couldn't join my sim for classes like in high school where I could join them. The neutral area between the two universities could have also been made into a better tourist attraction like the carnival in Copperdale. So while the pack came with customization items, everything else was underwhelming.

This is a great review. Very thorough! Personally one of my top favorite packs but you introduced me to some concepts I still didn't know or consider.

Out of curiosity, has the Sims team ever confirmed that the DU world was based on the UK? I always assumed the world was supposed to be based on the East Coast American schools (ie Yale vs MIT). I'm always so confused when people complain about the Uni being too American for a British world. We can't have cooking equipment in our dorms and dorms usually have at least two beds (some with 4 or even 6!), pretty clearly American. I'm not convinced the world is meant to be culturally British!

Tbh this is probably the best pack interms of content. It feels very full and there is alot to offer the problem is since its a university pack you won't be using it everyday. This amount of content should be the standard for expansion packs though.

You just make my mondays exciting thank you 😫

okay hear me out: Satch making a gameplay of the packs before the brutally honest reviews! two birds with one stone

One of my favorite packs of all time! - but the no kitchen thing got me as well LOL

Great review.I’m always so happy to see university in sims games

Honestly, something i find hilarious is that whenever my sim is living in a dorm, their dormmates constantly show up with food, such as hamburger cake. I do not own the deluxe edition of the game. I cannot get my sims to make hamburger cake. And yet the random uni townies can?!

4:37 Unfortunately, it is not true that all university accom in the UK is non-shared. There are a handful of universities that do have shared rooms, typically the older ones. I’m pretty sure some Oxford colleges and Durham colleges have shared rooms.

I work as a house keeper at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The most I've seen in 1 room are 7 beds. And no I don't think it was big enough for that

i use a mod that allows stoves on the university housing lots which makes dorm living way better

USA Universities normally have a dorm building that has rooms that have 2-3 beds in them (with some single options reserved for upper classmen or students with accommodations), some buildings have communal restrooms some have restrooms in their own room to share with the roommates. You’re normally allowed to bring a mini fridge and a microwave or a little portable burner. In the same building or nearby you’d find a cafeteria and small store. Larger apartment style dorm units will have a couple small single bedrooms and those roommates will share a living room kitchen and one or two bathrooms. Actual houses for what I know are usually used for sorority or fraternity groups so they may all live together in a house. Discover University housing is a little strange with not quite being how things are done 100% anywhere.

Fun fact (or really grim) but at my uni (uk based) there is one set of halls which has like 5 two-person bedrooms, which is so bizarre and is just luck of the draw, it's a very rouge choice as every other accommodation has single rooms only

Who said that Brichester is based on England? I always thought Brichester was based on your classic top-tier, old school American universities (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.) and Foxbury was your classic technical school (MIT, Georgia Tech, CalTech, etc.)

I am very thankful for your insight. but still for me, like I am going for it. I love the concept and I cannot wait to decorate the common areas to my taste.

One thing I like is that with get together and DU you can make university housing and set it for a club kinda like a sorority or frat

never get tired of notifications from this channel

I get that this pack has limitations by the Sims 4 game itself, but compare this pack to the recent expansion pack. Discover University is SO fleshed out in comparison - one of my favourite expansion packs personally.

One of the schools is based off of an American college. The other one is based on obviously a colleague in the UK. That’s probably why some of the things do look like they fit the yo vibe.

im kinda confused about how the lots work though. like you can't even visit or go inside of lots labeled as university housing, but nonstudents can spawn there during events or in general? i swear i saw elders walking around in the commons of one of the university lots recently while testing something. i wasn't playing an active game so i didn't look more into it but noted how odd that was. am i missing something?

I spent a lot of time on Sims 2 playing with the university areas, mainly because that was the only way to play the Young Adult life stage there. If you wanted a Sim to go to university, they had to choose to do it before they moved from teen to adult, and the whole life span issue was dealt with by just having it completely separate. It also helped that other families were frozen when unplayed on Sims 2 This meant that Discover University was one of the early packs I picked up for Sims 4. What a mistake. It seems like they broke everything they did right in Sims 2. I feel like it would have been worth mentioning in the video that you can do university off-campus. Practically, I feel that it is the only way it is in any way feasible. You can then have other non-uni Sims help out with money, cooking, etc. and have a fully functioning home. The dorms are so useless I would recommend just rezoning those lots, if possible. I definitely agree on only taking one or two courses per semester. That does make it take even longer, so turning off aging or using long life spans is a must. My first experience of this pack was to move my Sim into a dorm with two other pre-made Sims, find I could barely feed him on takeaways, and then get kicked out because one of the other Sims got pregnant and you're not allowed to have babies in the dorms either. When I moved them all off-campus (getting a flat with Santa Claus really helped with money), I found that the other Sims I'd created had aged and even died in some cases, because I still wasn't used to the aging at all on 4, and especially not how badly it is implemented for universities. I think the difficulty bar is way too high. University life is supposed to be as much about the social side and networking as it is studying, at least in the UK. But then they seem to follow the UK only in the basic look of the world. A Sim who goes to every class, turns up for exams and does homework should not be going on probation. It took a lot of effort and barely doing anything else to get C grades. There's also no on-screen representation of your grade during the course, like on Sims 2. You can just get some vague idea from mailing the professor. While the Sims 2 was a bit crazy in that having a relationship with your professors would replace actually studying, it was a lot clearer how to get a Sim with a good grade by working on skills that you would use later and doing specialised university tasks (exam, term paper). Even though the Sims 2 version was more American, it felt closer to what UK university life is like than Sims 4. I've only played Sims 3's briefly, but it was a lot better than 4 and I was able to leave a toddler behind at home without worrying about it being an adult when I came back. I have to disagree on High School Years being inferior. Being akin to one of the Get Together jobs means you can opt in or out of the high school on a day to day basis, and the greater flexibility of the high school lot means you can add skill building items to it and make use of the break times (even cooking!) I'm playing the teen-and-child-only scenario challenge at the moment and the high school is a good way of getting skill building items without having to raid the non-existent budget of their home. They've even slept there a few times. I think the biggest bonus of this pack is the things you don't even think of as part of it; the servos and other new objects, the CAS + build options you mentioned and the ability to woohoo in the shower. The actual university part is poorly implemented and the career boost - which sounds like it is not even implemented for some jobs - is likely negated by the sheer amount of time it takes to get the degree. You could probably get promoted through those early stages much quicker. In the Sims 2, where lifespans weren't flexible, it effectively gave your Sim many more days of play as a young adult. It's the opposite with 4; it takes away time you could be doing more fun things than writing term papers & homework every single day.

The “get to work” items really help speed up getting robotics parts needed.

I can always trust u to be brutally honest !! thank u for saving me from buying this

Not take 4 courses ? Why ? I ALWAYS have my Sims take 4 courses. I have 4 young adults that I plan to enrol in the university and to all tale 4 courses. Done that before. 100% gonna make that again. One recommendation : Never EVER live on campus. Always attend from home.

It’s better to live off campus as you’ll be able to make your classes on time. If you’re on campus, then your Sim, physically walks or bikes or jogs to the building -could take like an hour for your Sim to get it self together lol

It is an American (USA) university thing to have set meals in a dining hall that are pre-paid for at the start of each year, that's why university students over there have to consider both tuition fees as well as room and board (food) fees when deciding where or if they will attend university. That they also share rooms is such a joke. University is for adults but the way it is set up in the USA its basically a daycare where you bunk with another person, a resident assistant supervises you and meals are made for you.

I went to uni in St Andrews and it's very normal to share a room in halls. We had full kitchens though

It also came with a law career. But it's a fun pack.

I use locking doors and assigning beds to keep the sims from going into other rooms. Locking computers, too.

I took 4 classes (since that's literally the norm here in american colleges) and woah buddy. My entire collective experience of this pack was watching my sim do homework on speed 3 and go to rabbit hole class, then eventually failing with a D because he couldn't make it to the building for his final exam due to a bicycle glitch. Honestly pathetic lmao

If you 'Newcrest' Britechester, and start with all lots bulldozed empty. It's quite an interesting world, with both a modern neighbourhood and a classical oldtown neighbourhood it gives options. There are two swimmable waters, and even if you're not enrolled in university, you can still click the rabbithole buildings and do a skillclass or be a guest speaker and make some money. I like it better than 2/10.

Satch put your glasses on!! Your eyes will thank you AND I think they really suit you. 👓

10:23 this 100%, my #1 issue with this pack. Its been really annoying having to switch households too when I needed to use something for my uni sim's social media job

I'm not sure if the treating like a stranger thing is if you only have the base game and University, but my sim's mom and dad both at different points asked them to come home and my sim was able to sleep in their old bed, make food, do laundry, etc.

As much criticism this pack gets (and i get it, it's completely justifiable), it's definitely my favourite pack in The Sims 4. First of all, the CAS is one of the best in the game and B&B items are bland, yes, but imo they are so well-done and I like my IKEA furniture in every single build I do! And the colours are reaaaaally nice 😅 Gameplay can't really compare to my favourite Sims pack of all time (which is University in TS2), but still, it's mostly the only thing I ever do in The Sims 4 - create students, play with them until they graduate, create new students, and so on. I really like this pack and it's one of the few packs that I actually bought and felt like it was worth my money!

In Latvia dorms have 2-4 beds in one room. Still applies to Europe.

Could you try doing your honest opinion on Jungle Adventure next because I was thinking about getting the pack but am not sure ❤️

Maybe when you’re done doing sims 4 brutally honest reviews I’d love to see u do Sims 3 packs!

You have to use the lock door feature to prevent other sims from walking in. It's stupid, but there is a way to fix/prevent the problem.

Other students will cook and bring meals to the halls for everyone to eat - I steal them and put them in my fridge 😊 You’ll find them outside on the balcony at Britechester, or the toilets at Foxbury.

Most modern universities and college dorms (even some community colleges) in the US are just like apartments (quite a few are even unfurnished). The most modern buildings come with a full kitchen area, and older dorm facilities, often allow for hot plates, mini fridges and microwaves. In the older buildings it is common to see room sharing, especially for the incoming freshman (some of those are even furnished with bunk beds), but newer buildings either have walls or dividers separating each student. For the most part, nearly every campus has a mixture of old and new buildings, whereby incoming freshmen usually get the last pick. Some newer buildings offer less common areas than older ones (because of the aforementioned). However, since the cafeterias on campuses are normally located in separate buildings, common areas in dorms are similar to hotels, having ice machines, vending machines and microwaves (most are located on each floor of said dorm). Many dormitories even have laundry rooms (coin/card operated), and depending on number of residents, there could be multple rooms (or outside buildings for laundry). There are some elite dormitories that offer workout areas, saunas, swimming pools and a ton of extra ammenities (these are often high donor specific aspects). While most campus cafeterias (or selected) areas do close for maintenance, there are still quite a few that either remain open all night or close briefly, closing off areas in increments for maintenance purposes. The reason for this change, is that many students do reside off campus, but do purchase meal plans, but are limited to their access times (having a family, work, etc.). Most often, campus cafeterias are accessible to the public, regardless of student status (meaning even local businesses can choose to dine out at the facilities), to the point whereby they take advantage of this to acquire free office space for board meetings (which many campuses have began policing or charging fees for such activity). Most campuses do have meeting rooms, auditoriums, etc., that can be rented out (even catered) to the public, as well.

4:47 It's an American thing. Apparently they can't cook in their accommodation like we can in the UK

*sighs and opens up life by you gameplay videos*

The food and kitchen issues were soo true to my college experience. It never occurred to me college would be different outside of the US.

This was a good pack. One that I enjoyed reminiscing with. Going through the weeks dragged a little at times. It took too long to cycle to lectures, which became annoying. The lack of kitchens made no sense. Other than that, a solid pack. An unusual triumph for The Sims 4. Edit: 3:52 the student union building was terrible! 😆

Yeah I don’t know why there is no kitchen. I go to an American University and at least at mine our residency has an actual kitchen in the common rooms. So I’m unsure why they didn’t have one in this pack. Unless my school is an odd one out.

I bought this pack the day it launched and TRIED getting my sim to go to classes. Most of the time she didn’t. Tried it again after some updates and did go to classes and finished all projects and exams early even after getting them reviewed. Ended the term with D’s and F’s. Never touched the university aspect again.

In my game Sims always bring food from outside their dorms so I don't have to load into another lot to eat.

You also forgot to talk about the extra curriculars and scholarships like how you can become a football player if you played football for the university. Also you can bribe the school to get distinguished degrees. You can also use your fame if you’re a celebrity or your relationship with a former student to apply as well and be admitted into distinguished degrees.

Great review you've made me want to play the pack again!

Honestly the amount of simoleons my sims get after graduating is insane

I usually have my sims live at home instead of the dorms. It's a lot less stressful.

In Poland I had one roommate in dorm, yet it was one of the luxurious dorms (with just one roommate), in some other Student's Houses, there was 3- to 5-peoples dorms. As much as I enjoy the 2 Universities town, I really miss Sims 3 University Life, with soriorities, Nerds-Jocks-Rebels, arcade lot and comic store. Also I liked to take few sims of my household into the University together, I couldn't do that in Sims 4... Since I decided to comment, I add, that I love your films, I like that healthy criticism, also I agree that it really would be nice, to have some less american towns and stuff.

The unintended SHADE about the "this pack is not for your average blue suburban" 💀

My undergrad in the U.S. had 5 people sharing a room

6:10 to 6:37 yup, sounds pretty accurate, if only we could turn aging off irl 😭

I "sent" a sim to university once, after that never in a dorm again. Though I'm wondering if it would be good to set up an apartment as a student housing and have them go on their own to class that way. Not sure I care enough to play it to find out as I'm busy with Sims 3... and sometimes 1.. or 2... heck I even played Sims Lifestories, and started Pet Stories, finished Castaway (which I totally enjoyed)... but mostly 3.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but these were not supposed to be a conservative vs liberal college. It’s a liberal arts (literature, humanities, philosophy etc) vs a STEM focused college. Also I don’t think it’s supposed to be a British pack, the colleges seem pretty American.

@10:57 Which mod allows you to visit at stay at your parents during half terms without getting kicked out, please? Your videos are determining which packs I buy and I am still 50/50 on Discover university, Thank you