Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I really didn't take UCT seriously at all and it didn't matter. American students learn how to write in high school, but South Africans don't really learn that until they get to university so the classes were really easy and I think that the Americans tended to get better grades than the local students.

On-site administration of your program

Quinton and his team are extremely helpful and care a lot about the students. They reimbursed us for any "cultural" activities we tried out, and were always willing to help us with travel plans, volunteer ideas, and anything else that we wanted to do. They also organized a ton of cool activities for us, including rafting, wine tasting, and concerts.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in a duplex house with 8 Americans and one South African on each side. It was on Nursery Street in Rondebosch (really close to campus). <br /><br /> My housemates became my closest friends this semester. It was easy to bond with them because we were all going through the same thing together. It made it kind of hard to meet locals, but we got to know the friends of our RAs pretty well. Nursery was in a really good location, right between the main business area and the campus. It's on a dead end so it was really safe, and we had a laundromat at the end of the street. It was fully stocked with cooking supplies, and everyone had a single. We also had a view of Table Mountain. It was great.

I liked cooking for myself and experimenting, and I cooked a lot with my housemates as well. Cape Town has a really amazing restaurant scene.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Wine tasting was fun, and the concert at Kirstenbosch Gardens. Rafting was kind of a joke but I enjoyed it anyway. We had our final program dinner at a really fancy restaurant, which was really cool.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I never got sick so I didn't have to go to a doctor. Malaria medicine is available over the counter. Safety-wise, Cape Town is pretty dangerous but mostly only at night unless you are in a really bad area. I got robbed once and had three phones stolen. When you go out it's best to bring as little with you as possible.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

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• Other
• Dorm

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• Local Students
• Americans

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• Americans