Due to various factors, I have been strongly considering applying to the University of Cape Town in South Africa as my top choice school. Even though it’s a lot further away than I was expecting to be (I’m located in the US), it’s beginning to seem like the best choice for me at this point. I’ve been researching the city and the university (Cape Town seems like a great place and UCT sounds like an excellent school) but I can’t find definitive answers to a few questions I’ve been asking myself. I was hoping someone could help me answer a few of them?
Question ONE: What is the University of Cape Town’s acceptance rate?
The only thing I’ve read pertaining to this was a response that someone posted to Yahoo Answers saying it was between 10-20%. Is there somewhere I can find incoming student data or something? I currently have a 3.95 UW GPA, somewhat heavy involvement in extracurriculars, and a 28 ACT. I’m retaking the ACT in September but this is my current score. While I know that chancing acceptance is difficult, how would I compare to current UCT students?
Question TWO: Do I need to take the NBTs or anything else to apply?
From what I’ve read it seems that it isn’t necessary but I’d like someone to confirm this. Not everything I’ve read about testing has been 100% clear.
Question THREE: What is the international student community at UCT like?
While South Africa doesn’t seem like it would be a tremendous culture shock for me, it would be nice to fit into an international community if I went to school there. I’ve been to Europe and parts of Central America so I don’t think that this would be a problem but I’m curious as to how many international students are from “western” countries?
Question FOUR: Am I missing anything important/General advice?
I’ve checked over housing, student visas, programs, tuition, the city itself, and pretty much everything I can imagine would be researchable. Is there anything about Cape Town or UCT I should know that I wouldn’t have found through research?
I’m hoping that this will make it a bit easier to decide what steps I need to take next… Thank you in advance to any responses!