I just discovered that social-networking skill in university expansion could somehow affect starting level.
I made a simself yesterday and threw her in SV, with totally useless traits - slob, inappropriate, coach potato, etc.
However when I decided that she needs a great fridge and put her in culinary career, she is able to start at level 3 while having no cooking skill at the time.
I was puzzled, as she is lazy and did not go to university either, then I realized that her blog has three and half stars, quite an amount of followers, and one of the perks says something about uploading resume, etc, and so I guess this is what affected her career starting level.
Not sure if somebody has tested and confirmed this before, so I decide to bump the old thread and give it a reply:)