Private School and the Headmaster

[HystearicalParoxysm]

How do you get into private school? How do you deal with the headmaster? All those questions and more, answered right here:

Game Guide: Private School (http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Private_School)

Any more questions about Private School not covered there? Have any other special tips and info? Post 'em up here.

[SyD_CooL]

HystericalParoxysm I salute you to every thing you ve done .. salute bro..

[Lemon&Lime]

Why does it say in the 'memories' of the parents about their child getting into private school - "now you just have to pay those fees" or something similar. Private school has no cost!

[blahgirl13]

I believe Maxis originally intended for private school to cost $200 per day, per child. There is a fix at MATY (www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf) that implements this.

I have no idea why Maxis got rid of it though. Probably they thought it would be too hard for the 12-year-olds to actually send their Sims to work and earn some money.

[Lemon&Lime]

Maybe Maxis got rid of it because all Sims, rich or poor, have a want that frequently comes up to send their kids to Private School, one which is also stubborn to re-roll. I think many people would get frustrated with that want if it was impossible for it to be fulfilled.

[At least without the parent sims being made broke]

[blahgirl13]

No, actually, only Fortune sims and occasionally Knowledge sims get that want (do Family sims get it? I have no idea), and I don't find that it's stubborn to reroll for any type of sim that is not Fortune. Same for Fortune and Knowledge teens. Also, in the Sims world, $200 a day is really nothing. And if your sim is poor, wouldn't it make sense that they can't afford private school? I think it's a lot more fun to not have to, or even better, not be able to, satisfy every single want... watch them suffer a bit, no? Haha.

And if Maxis really didn't want impossible wants to roll up, then they should've fixed the coding that allows for sims to get wants to get engaged or married to sims that are already engaged or married. Or the minute stuff like 'go swimming' when there's no pool on the lot.

And if players really really wanted to send kids to private school, they could always cheat. I figure the type of player that wants to satisfy every single want for their Sims wouldn't have a problem with simple money cheats.

[SilentPsycho]

Actually, every Teen Sim and their parents get this want. It's not just limited to Fortune and Knowledge. To me, it seems it rolls up most often for Family than anything else.

[Lemon&Lime]

No, actually, only Fortune sims and occasionally Knowledge sims get that want (do Family sims get it? I have no idea), and I don't find that it's stubborn to reroll for any type of sim that is not Fortune. Same for Fortune and Knowledge teens. Also, in the Sims world, $200 a day is really nothing. And if your sim is poor, wouldn't it make sense that they can't afford private school? I think it's a lot more fun to not have to, or even better, not be able to, satisfy every single want... watch them suffer a bit, no? Haha.

And if Maxis really didn't want impossible wants to roll up, then they should've fixed the coding that allows for sims to get wants to get engaged or married to sims that are already engaged or married. Or the minute stuff like 'go swimming' when there's no pool on the lot.

And if players really really wanted to send kids to private school, they could always cheat. I figure the type of player that wants to satisfy every single want for their Sims wouldn't have a problem with simple money cheats.

I think you're missing the point. Wants are what your Sims WANT to happen. Regardless if they're married or not, a Sim will still WANT to marry that Sim. Since when was human behaviour any different? And I guess you still want to go swimming even when you don't have a swimming pool in your garden :P There are community lots for that sort of thing. And sometimes, people don't want to use money cheats and like the Sims to get rich on their own, much more satisfying. $200 a day may sound like nothing, but when the average wage is between that amount and $1,000, if your sim has more than 1 child money would go very quickly, at least for those who play the game without cheats.

I recently played a game in which, after building the house, the Sims had to work hard before they could afford bookcases, chess tables, etc to gain skill points to get promotions, to get money! Money was tight to even wallpaper the house. True, I could have built a smaller house. But its a lot more fun when you see the Sims' money and home grow and upgrade as they earn it.

[blahgirl13]

*scratches head* I don't see how I'm missing the point... what I mean to say is that the Sims' wants in general aren't always fulfillable, and I think it would be more challenging and therefore more fun if private school actually cost money like it was originally going to and therefore the sims who couldn't afford it wouldn't be able to fulfill that want. That's just my play style though.

I didn't realize that all Sims got this want... really only Fortune sims keep rolling it in my game.

[Lemon&Lime]

I do see your point, I tend to restrict which Sims go to Private School and which don't. I also find that when you invite the headmaster over for dinner, poor families usually don't manage to get into private school anyway. The parents don't usually have enough time to study cooking, and have limited funding in terms of decorating the house and having 'high quality' objects. I only tend to let my poor sims have high quality kitchens, (as high quality as they can afford) because if they can have good food, then working and life is easier :P I tend to try to stretch the money for decent beds as well, but things like sofas and bathrooms (unless they don't have a shower) tend to be the last things I change as they gain wealth.
I tend to find that most parents get the 'send children to private school' want at some time or another, but it is least likely to come up in children, and most likely to come up in the children's own wants if they are fortune or knowledge teens.

[Everyone's Favourite Arab]

I always just assumed that when the headmaster lets you into private school because you brown-nosed him, you were getting a scholarship.

[Lemon&Lime]

There is an item that I downloaded from MTS2, 'Apple of the teacher's eye' or something it was called. Its an aspiration reward and you can bribe the headmaster with $5,000 to let your kids into private school. There is a problem with it though. If you succeed, the headmaster goes home. But the headmaster scenario continues, and if you have less than 90 points when you bribe him (of course) it says at the end that you didn't get into private school, when you did. Not sure about memories, but it's in a bit of a pain. Good for a last minute resort, though.

Anyone else downloaded it and had a similar problem?

[ani_]

The wiki was talking about 100 points, but it's 90 in reality, or at least in my game's reality. Do you have to get all 90 points to go to private school? I got 85 - 2 foor food (even thou my woman was good enough to make turkey), twenty something for tour, and the rest for smooching (which went very well becuase now my woman is in love with the headmaster - only after one encounter with him) - but still I didn't get into private school. Does the overall score count, or just the fact that i scored so little in one area?

And it would have been great to have 200 simu payments/day, make my poor sim even poorer trying to educate their offspirngs :D

[Lemon&Lime]

It is 90 to get into Private School. I usually end up getting 100+ at the end of the Headmaster scenario, but as soon as you pass 90 then it ends. I tend to get the bulk of my points from dinner - hence why mine almost always goes above 90.

[KikiFox]

I have an issue with the schmoozing....I always do the tour and food, then depend on the schmoozing to get me up to 90 points if the other two things haven't. However, when I do the endless line of schmoozing from different people, the headmaster starts rejecting the schmoozing and the score goes down and he stops having good responses alltogether. So if I didn't get enough on food and tour, it's unlikely I'll get the kid into private school.

Is this a glitch, or does it just have to do with charisma or mood or something else??

[Lemon&Lime]

Might have something to do with the mood of the Sims doing the schmoozing, and their personality. I would get them to wear those blue sunglasses to make the schmoozing sucessful.

[pinklime07]

I'll have to try some of those tips ... I have found it harder and harder to get them into private school. It seems they increase the difficulty after a few eps.

[Destinita]

I got my girls into private school by having a one room with many gadgets and stuff, another with many paintings and another with all creativity boosting stuff with the computers and bookcases. Only 3 room tours are enough!!!The Lobster was made by Kaynlnn the maid. Schmoozing is quite easy too..

I once encountered a headmaster who once stepped out onto my front house, straight away judged it. He said that it was too good or something to be associated with his Private school! Bah. Proved him wrong!

[Charley-x]

don't know if anyone has suggested this but if you have bv go to twikki island and find thw witch doctor, and fix hes broken things and get the voodoo doll, when you arrive home invite the headmaster and use friendship spell on him. it puts your smhooze points way way up, you might just have to give him a tour after though to go over 90 points but if you do the tour make sure you only show him big room with skilling objects in (no bathrooms ect..ectt..) :D

[AdmiralAeris]

don't know if anyone has suggested this but if you have bv go to twikki island and find thw witch doctor, and fix hes broken things and get the voodoo doll, when you arrive home invite the headmaster and use friendship spell on him. it puts your smhooze points way way up, you might just have to give him a tour after though to go over 90 points but if you do the tour make sure you only show him big room with skilling objects in (no bathrooms ect..ectt..) :D

This is because the schmooze score is equal to the number of Daily relationship points gained in that particular visit -- and the friendship "curse" certainly gives a lot of that! You can get similar but smaller bonuses from OFB's relationship perks, Seasons' summer effects, and AL's reputation perks -- just remember to have the Sim with the persk initiate the tour!

[JanePstar]

I usually try to Smooze a lot with the teens and children.
And for the Adults, Its there job to cook a good meal, and start flirting.
Once I get into Private School, the mums kick the old men to the curb ;)

[Mayo550]

when the headmaster gets into the hot tub, you get extra points! unfortunately he doesn't wanna come out so i had to get my sim to shoo him out for dinner. lol

[charlie-chan_SC]

I tend to get 100+ points when the headmaster arrives.

I give him a tour of the house (which is quite spacious) and whilst that's happening I get the other half to serve dinner.

I usually do a two course meal where there is a main and a dessert.

I've seen an image on here where they got points for the headmaster drinking expresso.

[hikamiatemu_SC]

I usually get my sim kids into private school without too much difficulty, really (and usually with scores of 100+). Generally, the person who greets him will schmooze about school once before offering the tour of the house. I've honestly found that showing him the bedrooms usually gets a really good reaction out of him (likely due to the bedrooms having a high environment score, although I like to tell myself it's partly because he sees that each child has a good working space to him or herself, haha). Depending on how many rooms I can get to show him, it can easily knock off 40 or 50 points just on the tour (amusingly, the homes with less rooms to show, he tends to want to see four or five rooms from me, and the homes with more rooms to see, he stops at three).

While the tour goes on, I'll usually have whoever has the highest cooking skill in the family will be making dinner (usually pork chops or salmon; lobster has a higher tendency to burn, and it's a real pain to have to make them cook it all over again). However, sometimes I have it as a "prepared in advance" kind of thing (or "purchased from the local caterers") so that there isn't any risk of burning the food or (as happening with one of my first headmaster scenarios) starting a fire. It's rare to not end up with enough points right after he finishes eating, but if I need that extra little boost, they'll just serve some espresso to get it.

[musiquefille_SC]

Or, instead of espresso, drinks from the bar work well too.

[abel_SC]

There is an item that I downloaded from MTS2, 'Apple of the teacher's eye' or something it was called. Its an aspiration reward and you can bribe the headmaster with $5,000 to let your kids into private school. There is a problem with it though. If you succeed, the headmaster goes home. But the headmaster scenario continues, and if you have less than 90 points when you bribe him (of course) it says at the end that you didn't get into private school, when you did. Not sure about memories, but it's in a bit of a pain. Good for a last minute resort, though.

Anyone else downloaded it and had a similar problem?

I do have that mod, but I rarely use it. Anyway as far as I remember, it is intended to be used without going through the headmaster scenario at all. You put it on the lot and click on it, the fee gets taken out of your funds and the kids get into private school. No need for calling the headmaster at all. I think the person who made it even implented a feature that makes the action fail, if the sim who made the offer is not in gold or platinum. The money still gets taken out of your account, but your children won´t be accepted.

On another note, I never cheat for money and I have the MATY fix, but even with all the other MATY hacks, that increase bills and make jobs and therefore promotion harder, my sims are never short of cash. It is so very easy to get a lot of money in the game, that paying those fees never has been a problem for me. I only put sims in private school, if the teen or parent has a want for it, though.

[MongoLuehring]

The easiest and most consistently successful way I've found to get into private school is if you have Mr. Mickels, the voodoo dummy from Bon Voyage. Have a sim use it for friendship on the headmaster as he gets out of the car. Then all schmooze interactions will pay off well. Tour the house, and usually you don't even have to serve him dinner.

Works like a charm.

[JustANewbie]

Thanks! This is really helpful!!!

[Tom Duhamel]

I found that Schmooze interaction has a chance of failing, which I believe is linked with the Charisma skill of the Sim initiating it (perhaps the Nice and/or Outgoing personality points too, really unsure). I also believe that the more you Schmooze, the higher the chance of failure. However, a successful Schmooze gives a lot of point in a short period of time.

Usually I try to talk a lot instead, or doing other interactions which have a good impact on relationship points, as this is what really counts. I so tend to do one Schmooze at some time, but no more, particularly if a lots of points are missing by the end of the evening to satisfy the Headmaster.

Being a player from the original The Sims where bathrooms gave a real hit to the Room (now called Environment) need, I always try to decorate my bathrooms well so that my Sims like to do their things there. There, I can tell Headmasters do like my bathrooms, so I'm free to show them to them and I get the score. I don't believe the Headmaster cares about what room you show him, all he cares about is that the room looks good (high environment score). Try going next to a source of light before asking him to watch as the Environment score there is higher. The Headmaster (and actually all other Sims) hate viewing dark corners (I use the Gunmod's Radiance Light System mod, which gives a very good visual cue as to where light sources have their real effect).

Having a skilled Sim to prepare the dinner is best. Try to select the best meal he can if possible (perhaps avoiding the hardest one if you want to avoid burning it and being forced to prepare another one). Do not ever serve him burnt food. It is not necessary to go with the hardest meal possible, as I found hamburgers work well too. Mac & Cheese however does not give maximum points. For story purpose, I like to have a teen prepare the dinner if he/she has 3-4 points or more.

Once I had the mother prepare the meal in advance, that is well before the Headmaster arrived. As the other members of the family were getting ready (choosing their best outfit, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, ...) she went on and ate her dish right away without waiting for dinner time. Once she was done eating, she left the dirty dish on the table and went for other occupations. When the Headmaster arrived, my teen invited him to the table. He sat in front of the empty dish left by the mother, than started to eat. Needless to say, what was left was one single bit. He gave only 2 points to the dinner, despite the fact that it was a really good one. Stupid Sims. The Headmaster wouldn't stop complaining about his empty stomach as the teen spent the rest of the night talking to him in order to accumulate Schmooze points to compensate for the bad meal score, and eventually he succeeded. I'm guessing the Headmaster prepared a sandwich for himself when he got back home.

[nyctea]

I doubt what for maxis made that ptivate school! It has no porpose!

[NekoGirl]

I simply use the boolprop at neighborhood view, enter the Lot, raise a parent sim's cooking level to 9, have them max it out (same way, but while their studying for it, to get the "maxed this skill" memory), cook a Lobster Thermodior (or however you spell it), place a plate of it in the sim's inventory, put the rest of the serving in the fridge, then I do the Headmaster scenario.

1) make the greeting sim & the headmaster best friends (right-click, "Make Sim my Contact" until the refreshed Friends panel shows their friendship at 100/100) before greeting the headmaster, then once I see the scmooze is at 60 (almost always), I place the Lobster dinner plate from the inventory to the counter, call for dinner with the headmaster, wait for him to finish his meal, & bingo!, one private school student. ^_^

[cancerously]

I think there is some type of issue with feeding the Headmaster salad, because I did that once and he didn't give any points for the food. x.x

[AlexandraSpears]

For me it's typically Fortune and Knowledge Sims (primary or secondary aspiration) that roll that want the most. I'm guessing Fortune because it makes them look like all that, Knowledge because they're always interested in learning and they probably feel that they (or their children) will get a better education in private school.

I never select Schmooze. You can gain Schmooze points simply by talking to the headmaster. I've gotten kids into private school with Cooking skill as low as 5 (pork chops) and keep espresso and/or a bar on hand as backup. 10 points for each. I've had Headmasters who had a drink AND had coffee!

If you have a Toddler age up to Child during the visit (obviously when you're trying to get any older children in), if the visit is successful, they'll also be admitted. Had that happen just recently. I just timed it in between the tour and dinner, since I next to never throw birthday parties.

The Headmaster is looking for a satisfying meal and high Environment scores. I've scored as high as 15 for a room, and I find that I only have to show three or four rooms to hit 40. Even if you have only cheap stuff in the house, what matters is Environment.

[DaFishQueen]

Where can I get the "pay for private school" mod? I can't find it...

Does it work for AL too?

[AlexandraSpears]

Also, I never select Schmooze. I do have a Sim chat up the headmaster occasionally, just select Chat. When you're offering to Give Tour, in the action queue it says Schmooze, so your Sim is already schmoozing. Conversation over dinner also nets you Schmooze points, and so does having a talk over drinks/coffee.

[WooHoo31]

I've only had the Headmaster over once. He wasn't impressed and didn't let their daughter in.

It was actually pretty funny. The Headmaster said this isn't the kind of family I want involved with my school, or something like that. And then the father had a nervous breakdown on the floor in front of him. :P

[AlexandraSpears]

One thing to do to avoid burnt food: Have your Sim make the meal ahead of time and put it in the fridge, then just select "Get Leftovers" when it's time for dinner. Typically I get children into private school ASAP and one parent might be working. This way the other parent can give tour and the headmaster doesn't have to wait around while the meal is being cooked. It doesn't seem to have any bearing in the score.

[WooHoo31]

I've never had a sim go to private school yet, but what's the point in sending them to private school? Is there any difference between private school and regular school besides the uniforms?

[AlexandraSpears]

If a teenager is in private school when they look for a job, they start at level 2 instead of level 1 (so they only need one promotion to reach the top of the teen career track). Their Fun isn't depleted as rapidly, and Comfort actually increases.

I always send children/teens to private school if at all possible. They spend less time replenishing Fun before starting homework, which means more time for other stuff, such as skill-building. Plus, on chance cards, public school students get cash; private school students get skill points.

[katya_stevens]

I have to admit, I like the skill-giving pop-ups for private school -- I have a mod which makes sims pay for private school, so if they have the money to decorate the house and pay for tuition, they don't need the money.

[vhanster]

I don't think you need to pay to get to private schools, even though the child/teen's parents memories says so. Anyways, I've often send my teens to private schools (in a proper way- not using inSim) and all the "fund" you need is decorative items for your house.

[StrawberryKisses]

I actually find it very easy to get my children into private school. I take time decorating my houses(which is the most fun part of the game), so when I give a tour it makes the majority of the points. I also make sure the person with the highest cooking skills prepares the meal. Afterward I tell a joke, admire him, and do just a little schmoozing(sp?) about school and work. I usually have about a minute left and my points will be all the way full.

Also, if I send my children to private school, I send them to an expensive college(Academe' La Tour in my game). Then most of them become Scientist, Lawyers, Nurses, or I choose one to become the Major of the city.

[katya_stevens]

I don't think you need to pay to get to private schools, even though the child/teen's parents memories says so.

...I always forget I have a mod which forces paying for private schools, I'm so used to having it in my game.

[SimMegaptera]

For some reason I have some parents who are great at schmoozing, and others who randomly get + and - points when they do it. My best way to win over the headmaster is to have a kid take him on a tour of the house while a parent cooks dinner. By the time dinner is served the headmaster usually decides that the tour is over. Dinner needs to be something high up on the cooking skill thing -- lobster thermidor, T-bone steak, salmon, etc. I have a couple who likes to fish, and when their kid is school-aged I want to see if the sparkly home-caught fish meal will impress the guy.

After a successful tour (which means each room you take him to has to have a good environment score, I think) and a classy meal, often no schmoozing is needed.

[katalina522]

...I always forget I have a mod which forces paying for private schools, I'm so used to having it in my game.

What mod is it? The original link in this thread for MATY doesn't take you to the mod there, and I tried searching through the site for it with no luck.

[SimMegaptera]

Oh yeah, annoyance: Madison and Tristan got into private school while Harper was a baby, and then they had to invite the headmaster back to get Harper admitted when she reached school-age. I guess the headmaster wants to speak to the kids personally. But Harper got a different headmaster. I'll pretend that the old headmaster (who called to talk to Tristan while the new guy was visiting!) just retired and was replaced, as opposed to Harper getting admitted to a different school.

[AlexandraSpears]

There's an idea for a hack: once one child is accepted, any subsequent children born automatically start out in private school. One family had three children, same headmaster showed up, showed him the same rooms.

[vhanster]

...I always forget I have a mod which forces paying for private schools, I'm so used to having it in my game.

Where do you get this mod? I might like to try it :D

[katya_stevens]

Where do you get this mod? I might like to try it :D

It's from MATY, called "privateschoolbillfix", only available in the Director's Cut (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,8.0.html).

[perihelion]

If you have Seasons, catch some fish and serve it fresh to the headmaster. I did this last time I tried to get kids into private school and ended up with a total score of 111/90 (123%).

[RowenaLupin]

I found using the hangout option after dinner to be perfect, especially if the parent sim is a popularity Sim, they gain points super fast. Before time runs out, I cancel it out, and then admire him, and usually it's way above 90

[Orilon]

I've tried many times to get kids into private school without cheats, and I never was able to make the headmaster happy enough to let the kids in. (That is the only time I've ever had a knowledge Sim go into aspiration failure. He had twins and had 2 wants for them to get into private school and had 2 fears of them being rejected. He was at work when the headmaster came. No matter what the mom tried, it didn't work and the twins were rejected. The knowledge sim went into total aspiration failure when he got home from work an that was the first time I saw the therapist.)

Since I could never succeed to get the kids in the normal way, I now use TwoJeff's college adjuster to cheat them in. (It has the option school type private or public for teens and children. I usually switch the child/teen over to private and the parents/child's wants are filled)

[Darby]

I found using the hangout option after dinner to be perfect

Never thought to try that, and it's good to know, because the failure rate of Schmooze is very high in my game, regardless of the schmoozing sim's Charisma level.

The Tour and the meal usually get me within a few points with a lot of time to spare, so I'll definitely try Hang Out next time to top those points off. :)

[Amairani]

I get up to 60 points just by greeting the Headmaster using all possible greeting that came with AL, you know, like high five, kiss kiss darling and the rest. Looks silly, but hey it works and helps to get kids into desired private educational institution even if Sims are "not worthy" money/cooking skills-wise. Even if the house is decorated poorly and spaghetti were served for dinner, I still manage to collect the remaining necessary 30 points after over-greeting the headmaster.

[Darby]

I get up to 60 points just by greeting the Headmaster using all possible greeting that came with AL, you know, like high five, kiss kiss darling and the rest.

Really? :blink:
I'll have to try that too! With that, I could skip the Tour altogether and go straight for a fish meal. Boom, done!

[Amairani]

Really? :blink:
I'll have to try that too! With that, I could skip the Tour altogether and go straight for a fish meal. Boom, done!

Yep, I stand by my word since I do it every time when inviting a Headmaster and it works, most of the time it brings me 60 points if I queue the greetings up to 8 actions - once the headmaster arrives and gets out of his car, I pause the game and queue 8 actions, any variation of AL greetings will do as long as you greet him 8 times. I guess Headmaster feels overwhelmed by such exposure of love and welcome, so 60 points are earned right on the sidewalk :D.

[Darby]

Almost too easy to be fun. :lol:

[Honeywell]

I do the same thing now with the AL greetings. A popularity sim (with the FT aspiration bonuses) can greet the headmaster at the door with all of the AL greetings while wearing those ridiculous aspiration glasses and earn enough points without the tour or dinner. I'm almost positive there's mods out there where you can just pay to have your kids sent to private school instead of dealing with the headmaster scenario--I don't know why I don't search that out since I "cheat" my way through anyway.

[Darby]

Monique's hacked computer can be used to enroll kids in private school. I have it, but it's not installed yet. Updated through AL: http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,93501.0.html

Funny, I had thought there was a way to add kids to private school (or back to public school) with the LotDebugger or SimBlender, but when I needed to un-enroll one recently, I could not find such an option on either. Which kinda begs the question: Is there an in-game way to put kids back into public school? Failing grades? I've never had occasion to wonder before.

[Orilon]

Monique's hacked computer can be used to enroll kids in private school. I have it, but it's not installed yet. Updated through AL: http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,93501.0.html

Funny, I had thought there was a way to add kids to private school (or back to public school) with the LotDebugger or SimBlender, but when I needed to un-enroll one recently, I could not find such an option on either. Which kinda begs the question: Is there an in-game way to put kids back into public school? Failing grades? I've never had occasion to wonder before.


According to TwoJeffs with the college adjuster you can choose between private and public school: http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=7.0

I've always used it to get children/teens into private school, but you could use the pie option to put them back into public school if you wanted.

[AlexandraSpears]

Filet mignon works (if you have the mod where your Sims can make it at home). I almost never do the Schmooze interaction. I've found that even if the Headmaster gets snotty after being offered the tour your Sim can still rack up Schmooze points.

Basically any dish that's really filling (filet mignon, pork chops, salmon, lobster thermidor) really helps, having a Sim with at least 5 Cooking skill points works (keep in mind that a Sim with level 7 Cooking will make more satisfying pork chops than a Sim with only 5 points).

If you have a child give the tour, keep in mind that they don't have an Environment need, so plan ahead of time what rooms you want them to show. In order to prevent burned food (and possibly a fire during the visit--I've had this happen!) have your Sim make the meal ahead of time, stash it in the fridge, and just get the leftovers when it's time for dinner.

(Having the Fitness For All hack is good for the lulz too...I've had a headmaster get fat after dinner!)

[VerDeTerre]

I've never had a problem - All you need is a house with with a few rooms with high room score, a nice meal, and a little schmoozing. I usually check the room scores before the headmaster shows up and add lights or art where necessary. I also try to have the meal precooked and make sure at least one of the simmies is rested enough to entertain in the evening. The score has always been well over what's needed. I've always saved after each scoring just in case I needed to replay a part, but it's never been necessary.

[Darby]

According to TwoJeffs with the college adjuster you can choose between private and public school: http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=7.0

I've always used it to get children/teens into private school, but you could use the pie option to put them back into public school if you wanted.

Ah, that must be where I'd seen the option, then. Didn't think to look there, and it's probably on Pes's college clock too. Thank you!

[Metatwaddle]

I don't know if this has already been mentioned, but you can get an extra 10 points for getting the headmaster to go into your family's hot tub, plus schmooze points for the socializing that goes on inside it. The hard part is getting him out of the hot tub -- the points aren't awarded until he exits.

If your sims are not skilled cooks, but they have fresh fish or vegetables, you can serve a sparkly fresh meal to the headmaster. If I recall correctly, you can get something like 40-50 points for bass with squash, which does not require any cooking skill. All you need is a stove or grill and a largemouth bass. I don't know how many points you would get for mac & cheese cooked with fresh ingredients.

Schmooze points top out at 60; even if your STR score with the headmaster goes up by more than 60 points, you'll only get 60. The tour will end as soon as your tour score passes 40 points. It's just barely possible to get your kids into private school without serving any food to the headmaster; I've done it once or twice.

[katya_stevens]

I don't know if this has already been mentioned, but you can get an extra 10 points for getting the headmaster to go into your family's hot tub

Drinks from the bar and coffee from the expresso machine (the expensive one that only allows you to make two cups at a time) also give 10 points each: you can't control the headmaster taking them, but generally speaking if he's in the room when you make them, he'll come over and join in.

[Sunbee]

But don't make any more espresso, because he'll take that too, and you don't get extra points for a second cup. I don't remember which family it was, but someone needed to caffinate in preparation for a night of stargazing, and the headmaster kept taking the espresso on me.
I use Inge's school mods to move additional children into private school. Seems kind of silly to me that if the older three kids are already in private school the younger two don't get in automatically.

[AlexandraSpears]

I've gotten as high as 50 tour points...you show a room that's 10 points, followed by a 15-pointer, then another 10 (bringing it to 35), then another 15-pointer. Of course you generally don't know until after the fact how high the rooms score...but I've gotten 50.

Generally the headmaster follows your Sim and does what they do.

[Rarr]

I have to admit, I like the skill-giving pop-ups for private school -- I have a mod which makes sims pay for private school, so if they have the money to decorate the house and pay for tuition, they don't need the money.
what mod is that? i searched MATY and couldn't find the one mentioned earlier in the thread

[Darby]

I've gotten as high as 50 tour points...you show a room that's 10 points, followed by a 15-pointer, then another 10 (bringing it to 35), then another 15-pointer. Of course you generally don't know until after the fact how high the rooms score...but I've gotten 50.

Sounds like 60 points is possible for the Tour then, theoretically. I've only ever gotten 40 points. That plus full meal points is often enough that Schmoozing and/or coffee are unnecessary (sometimes need one or two good Schmoozes, but that's it), but I'd like to see some 15-point room scores sometime anyway.

[Metatwaddle]

Sounds like 60 points is possible for the Tour then, theoretically. I've only ever gotten 40 points. That plus full meal points is often enough that Schmoozing and/or coffee are unnecessary (sometimes need one or two good Schmoozes, but that's it), but I'd like to see some 15-point room scores sometime anyway.60 isn't possible. If you get the score to 45, the tour will end. The only way to get to 50 is to go from 35 to 50 in one leap as Alexandra described.

I rarely have 15-point rooms, since my sims generally don't buy a lot of expensive art. My tours usually top out around 45 or so.

Drinks from the bar and coffee from the expresso machine (the expensive one that only allows you to make two cups at a time) also give 10 points each: you can't control the headmaster taking them, but generally speaking if he's in the room when you make them, he'll come over and join in. I already knew about the espresso, thanks -- it's been mentioned a few times -- I just didn't see anything about the hot tub, so that's why I brought it up.

[Darby]

60 isn't possible. If you get the score to 45, the tour will end. The only way to get to 50 is to go from 35 to 50 in one leap as Alexandra described.

Good to know - thank you.

[LightbulbsRock]

How do you get into private school? How do you deal with the headmaster? All those questions and more, answered right here:

Game Guide: Private School (http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Private_School)

Any more questions about Private School not covered there? Have any other special tips and info? Post 'em up here.
Oh my god, Thank you so much i've tried everything but all my children have to go to normal school because i'm rubbish at getting them in,
thanks again :}

[cosmostar]

Monique's hacked computer can be used to enroll kids in private school. I have it, but it's not installed yet. Updated through AL: http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,93501.0.html.

Why Don't you just use the cheat?

[Darby]

Why Don't you just use the cheat?

Uh... because it's more challenging and fun to NOT cheat? :wtf:

[Aserette]

I have no idea why, but cooking spaghetti always got me around 40points for food. Just saying:)

[Clashfan]

I've never needed the option of serving coffee/espresso to the headmaster before the tour and dinner has always been enough. Just curious on the coffee business is that something that is only available during this scenario? Cause my Sims slurp up espresso like nobody's business and the "serve" option only ever gets me producing two cups. I've never been able to get a visiting Sim to take the 2nd cup and I don't see another command for it.

Just one of those things I wonder about sometimes.

[katya_stevens]

In my experience, if the headmaster is in the room when you serve expresso or make drinks from the bar, he should automatically go up and take one (if someone else comes in and swipes one, you can just continue making them until he does).

[AlexandraSpears]

Don't serve espresso while everyone else (including the headmaster) is sitting around the table in the other room. Otherwise he won't go for it...basically the headmaster follows your Sim around like a little puppy dog. I found that out today...I simply had the father take the second cup and have the mom serve up some more, problem solved.