Private School & The Headmaster. WTF?

[Kokopelli]

 
Poke me with sticks, but for the life of me, I cannot get my sim kids into private school. Everytime I invite the headmaster over, he shows up, deems the place not good and leaves. Every single time! Even at the motherloaded family living in a mansion!
I call the same day before 4 o'clock even.

Grr.

[vaughje]

Something about saving after calling for the headmaster that causes him to glitch.  Also I on the lot debugger tool, there is a reset for the headmaster.

Try to reset with the debugger and then save then call the headmaster.  Don't save again until he leaves.

[Kokopelli]

I'll try that right now and see.

Hope this works.

[gjam]

Is the headmaster showing up, then leaving right away?  That's a bug.

Or are you able to run through the full headmaster scenario, but don't know how to get enough points to satisfy him?  Then you just need some gameplay tips.

[Orikes]

It sounds like the 'save bug'. I had this happen once. I invited the headmaster in the morning, and then saved at some point during the day. When he shows up, he immediately and snootily leaves.

Try saving before you call him. Don't save again until after he's accepted the kids into school.

I find the headmaster scenario pretty easy. He arrives, one adult/teen sim greets him, then offers him a tour of the house. another adult/teen sim starts making dinner. By the time the tour is done, dinner should be ready. Call the headmaster to dinner and have your sims eat with him (or if they're not hungry, just have them sit at the table so they talk). By the time the headmaster is done, you should have enough points from the tour and dinner that a few 'chat' interactions should get your kids in.

[Hegelian]

And serve coffee. You get a 10-point bonus if the headmaster drinks coffee.

Some headmasters are more difficult than others. Vince Walter can be a di jerk. Try schmoozing by someone else if the first sim you send does badly.

With a well-appointed house (i.e., expensive floors and furnishings) and an expensive dish like turkey for dinner, you can usually get in with just a few schmooze points. It's a good idea to start dinner before he arrives in case you burn it on the first try. Also, if you use Dizzy's smart-serve hack, your sim may not make enough servings the first time 'round. And although it's rather gamey, you can use the inventory feature to prepare the meal in advance and put the platter in inventory until you need it.

Finally, in order to get the food points, you need to use the Call to Meal interaction in the Entertain menu rather than the regular call to meal that's associated with the serving platter (it took me some time to discover be told this.   

[rohina]

If your sims are poor, then don't forget the buy mode option to move around the furniture. You only need one really nice painting to make this work.

[Jelenedra]

And remember, different areas of the outside count, so move that fountain and statue around the yard to get points!

[Orikes]

Some headmasters are more difficult than others. Vince Walter can be a di jerk. Try schmoozing by someone else if the first sim you send does badly.

What's funny about that is that Vince Walter is the Headmaster that usually ends up becoming a friend to my sims. He's all bitchy when he comes to do the review of the family and the home, but always ends up wanting to hang out and be friends later on.

[neriana]

I've never successfully schmoozed a headmaster; my Sims always get red negative signs for it. I find that simply talking to him works though.

[Gwill]

Coffee and Drinks are good, they give 10 points each.

[kutto]

Don't forget the "Headmaster in the Hot Tub" bonus. 

[vilia]

If you want tips for getting your kids into private - check out this site http://www.jennthesimmergirl.com/privateschool.php. Jenn's highest score is 166.

[rohina]

The hot tub is a sentence of death! Usually if the headmaster gets in, he won't get out until the next morning, and so he misses dinner and coffee.

[Kokopelli]

Well, I managed to "squeek" by and get one kid into private school, and yes I caught the save bug.
*Achoo*  lol
Coffee and dinner were ok, but rohina is dead on about that hot tub.
Sheesh!  I couldn't get the jerk out of the damn thing!
 That's the last time I will send any kids to private school.
To much for my and my sims nerves.

[jsalemi]

That's the last time I will send any kids to private school.
To much for my and my sims nerves.

Well, now that' you've done it the right way first, you can use a hack (i use the insimenator) to just plunk the kids in private school, and then cntl-click on the want to register it.

[fwiffo]

The Headmaster is one of the buggiest scenarios in the game.  Here are my tips for "headmaster hygene":

1. Save the game BEFORE inviting the headmaster.
2. Don't invite him over far in advance.  Wait until 4pm or so on the day you want him to arrive.  Espescially don't invite him the night before.  That will virtually guarantee the vanishing headmaster bug.
3. Do not save after you invite him.  That will virtually guarantee the snooty-immediate-rejection bug.
4. Do not save again at all until the scenario is over and he's left the lot.  If something goes wrong, it can bug your lot (use FFS lot fixer).
5. Have somebody right at the curb at 5pm to greet him.  This may mitigate the snooty-immediate-rejection bug, and is part of the next tip.
6. Don't let him out of your sight.  There are objects that he'll get stuck on and you'll be screwed.
7. Keep him away from hot tubs.  You don't want the "headmaster in the hot tub" bonus.
8. If he gets stuck, or disappears or does anything strange, quit without saving to avoid bugging your lot!
9. Turning off free will might be a good idea so you don't have to keep track of your sims and the stupid headmaster and his swarm of bugs at the same time.
10. Complete the scenario as quickly as possible to reduce the likelyhood of something bad happening.  Other posters tips are all good.
11. Don't have social interactions with the headmaster outside the scenario (don't call him on the phone to chat), it can trigger more bugs.  For God's sake, don't move him in or marry him.

Or, once you've done it once or twice and realized that it's pretty easy, and you don't want to risk bugs, just cheat.

[Hegelian]

 That's the last time I will send any kids to private school. To much for my and my sims nerves.

Private school has tangible benefits. For one, the kids' needs are less depleted when they get home; also they start teen jobs at level 2.

I'm curious as to how to get a really high score. When I play, the headmaster always leaves once the score passes 90, even when there is significant time remaining.

[Gwill]

One of the first things I did when I got the game, was to marry the stupid headmaster.  I never made that mistake again.

The only way I can get a really good score (as in way above what's needed) is by taking him on the tour, smooching and stuffing him with coffee and drink so that the score is nearly 90 and then calling him for dinner.  Last family I played, I gave the tour and filled him up with liquids and had the mother chat a bit with him while dad cooked, and that resulted in approval before dinner was even on the table.  A bit of a disappointment. 

[J. M. Pescado]

I'm curious as to how to get a really high score. When I play, the headmaster always leaves once the score passes 90, even when there is significant time remaining.

The Headmaster generally starts looking to leave once score passes 90, but if you keep him occupied, you can rack up more points just for the hell of it. It doesn't do anything to do this, though.

[vaughje]

Pssh I want them to get the heck outta my house as fast as possible.  No time for any fancy stuff.  Usually after the tour and the sitting with him while he eats is enough to get to 90 then they're gone.

[Avalikia]

I've gotten a teen with no cooking points living alone in a one room house into private school before.

[Process Denied]

I use to get my kids into private shcool the old fashion way.  Till one fateful night  at the Goth house.  Alexander was smoozing the headmaster cause I was having trouble getting him to sit down to dinner;meanwhile,his wife took her plate of food outside to eat and she was killed by a ghost.  The idiotic headmaster gives his no acceptance speech while Alexander and his three sons are crying their eyes out.  I swore if I layed eyes on that headmaster again--I would commit Simacide.  The headmaster still lives and I grant private school to those who I know could get in.

[Orikes]

I'm curious as to how to get a really high score. When I play, the headmaster always leaves once the score passes 90, even when there is significant time remaining.

I think my high score was something like 127. Good tour, good talking, then finally good dinner. If he has accumulated 90 points by the end of dinner, he'll just leave at that point. If you chitchat with him a bit before actually serving dinner, you can get more points. Mostly I skip that, since i'm not sure what happens if time runs out while he's in the middle of eating dinner.

To be honest, I don't understand why the Headmaster scenario is so hard for people. I play with no hacks related to the situation and it's easy breezy to get the kids into private school. I don't find the situation to be that buggy other than the 'do not save after calling headmaster' bit. Admittedly, I failed my first couple of attempts at it (first time didn't understand what needed to be done and second time experienced the save after calling problem), and I do tend to be a bit of a control freak when he shows up, but I've never had a problem getting all my kids into private school.

[Jelenedra]

Same here. But then again I during the tour I watch the environment score and make sure it's nearly full before I "show room." Bathrooms are easily the best rooms to "show." An expensive toilet, a shower, a cabinet, a sink, a mirror and maaaaybe a cheap painting in a 4x4 space? He goes ape shit over it.