SPAT, Reloaded

Since my original post, this system has proven to be a bit more complicated than I would have liked for my play style, so I tweaked it some more.  It is now much more simple and easy to calculate without depending on excel and it only uses two major aspects of simology to calculate now-skills and hobbies.



I use SPAT scores to determine acceptance into Pierce University. The SPAT was developed by Laurel Crossing as a test to measure achievement for students applying to colleges and universities. SPATs are comprised of three sections: CSE (core skill evaluation), CIE (core interest evaluation) and CHE (core hobby evaluation). The CSE, CHE and CIE were discussed previously here.


While complying the SPAT scores for my high school seniors as they prepare to enter the great world of higher education I realized that I couldn't just do a simple addition of each subset. The CSE ranges from 0-70, the CIE ranges from 0-180 and the CHE ranges from 0-100, meaning a simple addition could have SPAT scores in the hundreds. Which wouldn't be a problem except most of the FSBS hoods and their universities had minimum SPAT scores in the 15-30's. I couldn't send my simmies there with SPAT scores in the 100s, yet I couldn't ask so many hoods-including mine-to change their entrance requirements.

Behind the SPATs
I determined that I would need to do a weighted sum of the CSE, CHE and CIE. Since the total interests scores are pretty much the same for each simmie, I decided not to consider the CIE for the basic SPAT, but the CIE would be similar to the SAT 2's, so how well do they do in certain subjects. Some schools and departments would require these scores-like my medical school, while others would not.

That said, the new SPAT formula is much more simple than last time :)

50% CSE

+ 50% CHE

+ 1 points for every maxed skill (CSE=10)

+ 1 points for private school (which is honors classes in my hood))

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(round up to the nearest whole number) SPAT Score

This would give a theoretical max score of 93 (70/2+100/2+7+1). Considering the SPAT is for college bound seniors and not full age adults or elders, I envision the real max score would be closer to 40-50 and the average score closer to 12

Why that formula?

I decided that the CSE is the most important part of the SPAT since most of the FSBS hoods had minimum requirements for CSEs.

I determined that the CIE is roughly the same for each sim, between 90-110 total points so it didn't make sense to include it in the score, plus that's a lot of counting. This is just for the SPAT, as particular interest scores could matter for other tests. For example, my medical school requires the SMAT. The SMATs are a specialized test for prospective medical students comprised of three sections: Physical Sciences (Fitness CHE), Health Sciences (Health CIE), and Biological Sciences (Science CHE).

Finally, I wanted to honor those simmies that put in the hard work to max out a skill, since it gets progressively harder to earn skill points the higher you go. So each maxed skill gets an extra point.

For my simmies, private school, means honors classes which are harder than the average classes, so I wanted to honor that distinction as well.

SPAT In Action-RELOADED
To see the differences, I looked at the same two college bound seniors, a young pre-teen genius and an adult certified genius to see if they would still gain entrance to their universities.

The Medical Bound Senior

Naraj  Shazad dreams of medical school in his future and he has studied hard to his SPATs and for school. He earned the following scores: CSE=35; CHE=16. He was also a member of the honors classes. As a result, his SPAT is 27. This aligns with Pierce University in Apple Valley and Meade College in Laurel Crossing which are more selective schools, part of the Académie Society (credit to Laurel Crossing) and have minimum SPAT requirements of 20-30. This makes sense for me as I envision Naraj as a student who wouldn't have any issues getting accepted to the university of his choice within the Académie Society.

The State School Bound Scholar
Annie Grey loves history and might want to be an archaeologist, or a historical expert. She doesn't desire to go to any of the pretentious Académie Society schools and instead dreams of large state schools with exciting events and generous scholarships. She doesn't study too hard for school, but she keeps her grades up. She earned CSE=19; CHE=11, as a result her SPAT score is 15. This is in line with some of the requirements for FSBS universities based on "state schools". So basically, Annie could get into a state school, but not the more selective schools.

Pre-teen Genius
Veronika Kent isn't nearly old enough for university, but her principal thinks she should consider early admission. No wonder, her subscores are CSE=38; and CHE=17. She is taking honors classes and she has maxed out her creativity CSE. Her SPAT score is 30 and she's not done learning!

Certified Genius
To measure the SPATs against a certified genius, I looked at Ray Wilsonoff. He's a member of FENSA which means he has maxed all his skills. So his CSE=70; CHE=18. His SPAT score would have been an 51 if he took the test, but he's an adult now and not looking to return to school. Besides, he knows it all...right? :P