Recommended University For Computer Science

[Jamado]

Hey everyone! I’m a matric student looking for a university to apply to, and I’d love your opinions. Here are my current options, in order of preference:

• University of Pretoria
• Stellenbosch University
• North-West University (Potchefstroom campus)
• University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)
• University of Cape Town (UCT)

I’m aiming for a place that will truly help me reach my full potential, with passionate teachers, a great IT community, and a generally supportive environment. Scholarship recommendations are also welcome—I’m open to all the help I can get! I’ve thought about going overseas, but I’m a bit scared of flying so far for my studies.

About Me
Coding Background

• I’ve been passionate about coding and computer science since I was 10 years old. When I was 14, I spent two years creating my first 3D multiplayer FPS game. I’ve consistently scored 100% in all my IT practical exams throughout school and even tackled Grade 12 work while I was in Grade 10. The only time I didn’t score perfectly was when I lost 3 points for changing a form’s UI in the designer instead of in the code — oops!

Projects
Grade 11 IT Practical App

• In Grade 11, I built an app for my final IT practical exam that helps users create personal fitness profiles based on goals, dietary preferences, and allergies. You can upload a picture of your fridge, and the app recognizes the ingredients (which it stores in a database). Then, you simply request a meal, and it generates a recipe—steps, ingredients, macros, and how it fits your goals—all powered by GPT-4o, some prompt engineering, and OpenAI’s API (though I might switch to a cheaper model like Mistral).

Various Games and Apps

• I coded several games and apps for Windows, and I also developed mobile games and productivity apps for personal and school use.
• One of my first mobile apps (from Grade 8) was designed to keep track of our six-day school cycle, including vacation days, and tell me exactly which books to pack for the next day’s schedule.
• In my early years, I coded a lot in Roblox, creating some advanced features like a fully animated, realistic gun system (bullet drop, damage animations, realistic aiming, leaning, movement, and a fully functional attachment system using a node-based system).
• I’m currently planning an online ordering app for a local restaurant that still takes orders through WhatsApp.

Unity, C#, and Roblox

• After spending some years in Roblox, i moved to Unity (created some apps, games and exploring multiplayer networking), and then began coding purely in C# in Visual Studio.
• One of my more recent projects uses ChatGPT (with a 6000 character prompt) to automatically create TikTok videos featuring Reddit stories or AI-generated text-message-style stories. To make tthe text-message-videos, I had to reverse-engineer a site’s API for social media templates. I learned some reverse engerneering when I attented a “hacking” course online, when i was about 12

Academic Performance

1. IT: 95%
2. Math: 78% overall (with an average of 91% for my two Grade 11 November exam tests)
3. Science: 75%
4. Other Subjects: All above 75% … except Afrikaans (which is ironic because it’s my home language).

I’m really looking for a university that will nurture my enthusiasm for computer science, offer nice education and surround me with a vibrant community. Any advice on which of these five options might suit me best (or if you think I should reconsider another school entirely) would be super helpful. And if you know of any scholarships I should check out, please let me know!

Thanks in advance—I appreciate any insights or suggestions you can share!