If you quit the Science Career?

[Whirligig]

So one of the spares in my Dynasty file is working towards becoming a lvl 10 scientist, and I'd really like to keep it that way.

However, I realised a bit too late that I should also have her work on the Computer Whiz and Renaissance Sim aspirations. I actually don't think I've ever really had a sim quit and rejoin a career before. What happens? Does she go back to lvl 3 (with an A grade as a teen) or lvl 4 (if I buy connections), or will she go back to where she left off? I think she's level 5 at the moment so if she will lose progress, I'd like to get this done sooner rather than later. I know I read that in branched careers, sims will go back to where they branched off, but what about the active careers that don't branch?

My second question is, if she does quit the scientist career, will she still have access to some of the perks? Will she still be able to work on the inventions that she's already unlocked (eg the satellite, some of the early serums) even while she's in another career (I think I will get connections so she'll only need one promotion in the tech guru career)? Or will she have to wait until she's back in the science career before she can work those again?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[oshizu]

First question: I've read different answers to your question on the forum but, in my experience, the more time that passes, the more levels the sim will drop. She'll definitely not retain her current level.
(Is it dynasty-illegal for you to make a copy of your dynasty save file and use the copy to test this?)

In response to your second question:
After she leaves the science career, she can no longer use the invention constructor or the machine for creating serums. If she's invented a SimRay, serums, cloning machine, etc., she and her household can still use those.
Once she reaches Level 10, she can upgrade the wormhole generator so the whole household can travel together to Sixam for those cash-crop exotic plants and other rare collectibles. I realize you are thinking about how many satisfaction points this spare can generate.
Can't she go back and do Computer Whiz and Renaissance Sim later, after she maxes Scientist in 5 more levels?
You can always list up the requirements for those two requirements so you're finishing some of them while you're in the Science career.

Just my two cents. Sorry I couldn't be more accurate about your first question.

[Whirligig]

Okay, so I did end up making a test file for this to see how it would work out and I've decided I'd rather find other ways for Edith to earn satisfaction points than take time out of working on the science career - I'll know for next time, though! She quit her career and bought connections. Then she joined the doctor career for about 5 seconds before she joined the tech guru career. Because I'd actually had her join it before she joined science to begin with (get to level 3 of tech guru would autocomplete on its own), she got dropped back to level 1. Playing to one promotion I would do, but not five. So she signed up for science again. She became a junior tinkerer (which is level 3), but the level number in the hover-over tooltip in her career window said Science Lvl (1). That sounds buggy as anything so that's two good reasons to keep her where she is in the main file. I might consider having her complete those once she's finished, though I have other, story-related reasons to keep her in the science career as long as possible after level 10.

Thanks for your help, @oshizu