Will I be disadvantaged if I only take 5 highers for Oxbridge?

Most people on this forum I have been reading about who have got an offer from Cambridge seem to have at least 6As

My school doesn't allow you to take five highers unless you take music as a sixth.

My plan is to apply to Oxbridge next year, do you think I will be disadvantaged seen as people do 7 highers ??

What other stuff could I do outside of school which will help for my application in 2016?
I have heard about Nuffield placements and stuff but I think that is only for s6s.

Also, is it possible to take 3 AH and 1H in 6th year?

Most people on this forum I have been reading about who have got an offer from Cambridge seem to have at least 6As

My school doesn't allow you to take five highers unless you take music as a sixth.

My plan is to apply to Oxbridge next year, do you think I will be disadvantaged seen as people do 7 highers ??

What other stuff could I do outside of school which will help for my application in 2016?
I have heard about Nuffield placements and stuff but I think that is only for s6s.

Also, is it possible to take 3 AH and 1H in 6th year?

I am in the same boat as you, I'm applying to Cambridge this October. In 2014 only 297 people were entered for 6 Highers in the whole of Scotland and of that 125 achieved straight As (0.2%). I've spoken to a few admissions tutors at Cambridge at the open day earlier this year and they don't see many people doing it. So while it might make you stand out it is definitely out of the ordinary, so it's not as if all the people you'll be up against for places will all have done 6. That said, if you think you are capable I would definitely ask. It took me three meetings with my guidance teacher before they agreed to let me do 6 highers.

As for the three Advanced Highers and a crash higher, this is possible but again quite uncommon. I would again just ask, the worst thing that can happen is they say no but if you do 6 highers and do well I would be surprised if they were against you doing the 3 Advanced and a higher. Again I am speaking from personal experience and your teachers may take a different view, but mine were quite supportive of my 3 Adv and a crash after my results this year.

As for things to do out of school you could try and get work experience depending on the course you hope to apply to, or do some summer schools and courses. Again this is all I did and don't know anybody that did more. Hope this helps.

What course do you hope to apply to and what subjects are you doing?

Source:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/sqa_2014_exams_percentage_of_peo#incoming-630127

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I am going to try begging to my school to let me do 6 when I go back to school too since they only let you do music as a sixth
Even then, there are only a few people doing six highers in my year.

On the other hand, maybe it's a better idea if I do really well like 5A1s?
I don't know, I'm really stuck and none of my family or teachers are that supportive. Teachers discourage you as much as possible for 6 highers which really sucks.
I want to do Maths or Engineering but not entirely sure what kind yet if I do engineering.
The subjects I have picked so far are -

Maths
English
Physics
Chemistry
Art
I am thinking of changing art to geography though because I have heard Oxbridge much rather have academic subjects like Geography. I am equally good at both however, my thinking was Art shows that you can be creative and engineering is much the same... Right..?

As for Work Experience, I have done a week at Bank of Scotland and a week with BBC Scotland. They are not exactly ideal for engineering I don't think. I am going to join a charity club at school to fundraise and stuff so I have something to talk about on my personal statement.

I also hope to do the Sutton Trust Summer school next year at Cambridge. Did you do the summer school this year?

Sorry I have so many questions but you seem to know your stuff so I hope you don't mind.

If they say no try asking to do it but say you're willing to drop the extra subject if the workload is too much. Even if you aren't allowed you could mention in your personal statement that it was down to your school but like I said earlier it's an uncommon "extra" and so it won't be expected or held against you if you do 5, especially if you do well in all of them.

I want to do engineering as well . The subjects I did were:
Maths
English
Physics
Chemistry
Design & Manufacture
Modern Studies

I would agree that art shows you are creative but as long as you have the necessities (Physics, Maths and a third science/technology subject) then your other subjects aren't particularly important. So I would just choose whichever you are best at or enjoy more.

I never did the Sutton Trust summer school but I did a very similar one through another organisation and still at Cambridge. I would definitely recommend applying to the Sutton Trust course, it looks really good on your UCAS as well as giving you a feel for the university to make sure you actually like staying there and want to apply. It's good fun too!

It's no problem, I'm happy to help

wait wait wait! What! you wanna apply for Oxbridge next year? For 2016 entry or 2017 entry?
I don't think you can get into Oxbridge at the end of S5, no matter how capable you are. Unless you did AHs in S5..
Nuffield foundation can be done the summer before you enter S6.
I mean, it's up to the school. My guidance teacher told me if I take 3AHs and a H then I would kill myself lol, nevertheless, I took 3AHs and a H.
If your school is really against taking 3AHs and a H, then you take courses in college(if you want to). You get free periods in S6 anyway, so if you're very dedicated and motivated, then you can apply for college courses to do AHs or Hs.
And I mean, not many people do 7 Highers= = trust me. People who take 5 Highers in my school are the ones who are very academically capable. This is the case for the majority of state schools. If you want to do 7Hs then go to a private school. However, any university would look at your school.
Say you go to one of the worst state school in Scotland and you got 4As and a B in S5, the rest of the school gets a maximum of 1As or 2As, then it clearly shows you are very capable.
Whereas if you go to one of the best private/state school and you achieved 6As in S5, the rest of the school gets 7As/8As, then you are not a strong applicant.
However, Im not saying people who go to good schools are disadvantaged, as long you are the crème de la crème, you stand a good chance of getting into Oxbridge.

Haha no no I meant for 2017 entry, to be honest I don't know much about the applying process. But thankyou for your advice, I think I am going to stick to five highers for now.
The question is if I take art or geography now.

Depends on what you wanna study.
Sciences(geography) or arts(art)