Hi! I'm Tushar, and I'm currently a second-year Material Scientist.
Studying at Oxford can be a surreal experience sometimes, whether it's the ability to study in amazing places like the Radcliffe Camera, having access to the best lectures, or learning from the best tutors. It can be even more daunting for somebody applying to study here, but trust me, it's worth it.
Oxford is unlike most other universities in that it has 8-week terms and collections (which are essentially mock exams) the week before a term starts. These eight weeks can be quite intense, especially in the first term; it's a big change from sixth form/high school, especially for MatSci students, since materials you likely wouldn't have the workload varies a lot, but it builds up heavily around weeks 4 to 6. The Materials tutors at Corpus are often busy, but they are also incredibly considerate, and they will move things around if needed to keep your timetable manageable.
I'm one of the rare applicants who has wanted to study Material Sciences for a long time- most Materials applicants choose to apply for the subject because it's 'a mixture of chemistry, physics and engineering and offers an insight into how the things we take for granted every day are manufactured and how they function'.
Corpus is known as the small and friendly college, and I can confirm that it is for good reason, but that wasn't the only reason why I applied to Corpus: Corpus has the best Material Science tutors (Dave, Pete and Chris). I think it's agreed around the whole university that Corpus is one of the best colleges you can apply for to study Material Sciences.
If you have a question, please email me I'll try get back as fast as possible!
Resources
Resources categorised by subject and by Key Stage, as well as materials for applying to Oxford and finding out more about Corpus, can be found here.