I took a look through the Study Abroad forum but there’s no action there thus no info. D is all over the place about study abroad but is contemplating South Africa. Does anyone have experience with the University of CapeTown? She was adamant that she was going to minor in Latin American Studies but has since decided that with a double major that will be too much and I’ve nixed Spain as a study abroad as part of that decision. She is looking for some place that she hasn’t been and that she can study Math/CS/Chem in English. The Skidmore Program in Madrid all classes are taught in Spanish and she isn’t comfortable taking advanced STEM classes in another language (although she is nearly fluent). So, CapeTown?
I’ve been to Cape Town four times and love it! The University looks beautiful and I’ve heard good things about it. I would got there in a heartbeat! If she goes, she just needs to make sure she learns where to go or not go - some areas of town are not safe. One year I asked the locals for ideas about places to run, and they told me the path right along the ocean was safe. So I ran a total of ten miles on it. There were lots of other people walking, running, and biking, and I felt very safe. So gorgeous! And there is so much to do in the area. Botanical gardens, penguin colony, Cape of Good Hope (ostriches right on the beach!), etc. And if she has time, she should go on a safari at Kruger National Park.
I have to warn you that the only problem with this plan is that once she goes, she’s going to have to go back! I know. 
My dad is a professor who has traveled all over the world, and his favorite country is South Africa.
Thank you MaineLonghorn. I’ll have to check about the safety and make sure we are well advised. Its just the first of many options (I hope) for her to be able to study abroad with STEM majors. The local high school had many students (including some friends of hers) go to CapeTown so I’ve advised her to ask around. Of course, a semester abroad is different than a two week senior trip, filled with fun and little academics.
Well, I can’t tell you anything about the university, but I loved Cape Town. She needs to keep her wits about her, but that is true anywhere. I went as a lone female ages ago, when it was more unstable. It is a beautiful part of the world.
I know two students who did study abroad in Capetown. Both LOVED it!
We had a tour guide at U of Denver (I think?) who had just returned from there. She loved it and was considering going back after graduation, having left with a job offer.
We have met several young people who traveled to South Africa and loved it so much they have moved there.
It’s “Cape Town,” by the way - two words.
I studied abroad in Cape Town several years ago, and it was life changing. I have since been back for several weeks for work. I didn’t study at UCT (I was in a program through my university, with South African professors), but the university is beautiful and I was impressed with students and I met who attended and faculty who I have met there. I spent a lot of time exploring the city and region with large and small groups and on my own. I did a fair bit of hiking, from day hikes to a short backpacking trip around the Cape of Good Hope.
It’s one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited, and one of the most fascinating–in terms of history, politics, religion, language, ecology, literature, and music. My professor was fond of saying that it is “full of contradictions.” I don’t know how it would be to study math or comp sci, though, since I was actually studying subjects that were fairly country-specific, and so my exploring actually helped me in my classes or was directly required.
In terms of safety, I am a woman, and I was pretty comfortable walking around most parts of the city alone during the day and with friends at night (FWIW, I was coming from a campus that often gets the “OMG, crime” discussion on CC, and I also felt comfortable there, though I don’t think they are really that comparable).
I will say, though, probably my only regret about study abroad is that I never became truly fluent in another language. I always excelled in French and was near-fluent, but because I never lived in a French-speaking country and never had to speak it all the time, I never really gained fluency in speaking, and I really wish I had had that immersion experience. So keep that in mind before nixing the Spain program.
20 years ago, I spent two weeks travelling through SA (and Botswana) on a choir tour. We spent a few days in CT as well, though we visited only U of Western Cape and Stellenbosch (very beautiful), not UCT.
At the time, I found the country physically exhilarating but socially very depressing - we sang in township churches, large city cathedrals, small churches in high SES areas, resort and safari towns, you name it. As a European kid who had never travelled beyond Europe and North America, I had a very hard time dealing with the contrasts between the wealthy areas and the slums, the hopelessness evident even in the way people walked, the safety concerns, the casual racism among all the families we stayed with. I am sure this has changed a lot and for the better, and that a well travelled American kid may deal with all these impressions much better (Western Europe was really still a bit of a bubble at the time - the idea that any place in any city might be unsafe in broad daylight was hard for me to grasp). I am glad I had the experience, but have not experienced a desire to go back so far.
I would not stop my child, but make sure she was VERY well prepared. There is a rape culture in that country, the violent kind.
D1 did a semester abroad program (not in math) in Ghana, a country sometimes called “Africa for beginners.” She thought it was very safe but knew some people who went to South Africa who said that South Africa did not feel safe. That’s just one anecdote, I realize.
Has your daughter considered Budapest? D2’s college had a math program there, and a quick search just now showed that many other colleges do, too.
D2 studied at UCT her junior year and I was fortunate enough to visit her. What an amazing city! My D had an incredible time but I echo what MaineLonghorn wrote in that there are definitely parts of town that she shouldn’t go but it’s very easy to find out about what’s safe and what is less safe, like any urban city. My D wouldn’t change her experience for anything. If you or she has any specific questions, let me know.
I would be more hesitant to send my daughter to Johannesburg. I felt less safe in that city. One time, we were driving downtown, and my mom rolled down her window part way to take a photo. Our host yelled, “Close the window!! Close the window!!!” Yikes.