Original post by charleaveHSPS at Cambridge would be the dreeaam, but I'm looking at other Politics/IR courses too. I'm also probably going to apply to SciencesPo and Harvard.
For MML, you are more constrained than other arts subjects because you need languages (ideally two). But other than that, I'm pretty sure you can take whatever you want! What subjects are you taking?
The Geography A-Level is pretty much 50% physical and 50% human, so it's pretty balanced (and there is overlap between the two). My interest is in human geography. I want to go into human rights or international affairs/development, so it's a pretty good A-Level for me to have. Yes, there is some science, but it's definitely an essay subject and not a science. I just really like it because it links lots of different areas of study together, and the modules all seem so interesting and relevant to what I want to do.
I'm not sure for grades (I'm not interested in sciences so I haven't looked at those) but I hear that King's Maths School is pretty good (not sure if you can do BCM + Physics, but worth a look), and UCL Academy is focused on the sciences. Not as well reputed as some other schools, maybe, but if you're a good student you would be in the top bracket of students.
I think it's because of the type of student it attracts. A lot of people here are either closely followed by their parents in their studies, or are incredibly self-motivated and study well independently. Plus, when surrounded by lots of people studying, it gives you impression that you aren't doing anything and will fail everything unless you study more than them - it's a very competitive and toxic environment.
HBS gives the impression of independent learning (there aren't detentions or anything to motivate you to do your own work really) but the teachers definitely do follow you... at first. You have to take the initiative yourself - the teachers don't really care for the most part and will just let you fall behind whilst making snide comments. I have heard that it definitely does spoon-feed more than sixth form colleges, though.
If you're not an A* student though, watch out - HBS will let you fall further and further behind without any kind of help. They only care about the top students. Whilst you may be the top student in your school, note that HBS is full of girls who were the top student at their previous school. So be prepared to not be the best. A lot of people I know struggled with that when they got here.