UK Student applying to MIT

MIT only take about 150 students from the world every year across all subjects. Unless you're the very best of the best, with 6 A* levels and got to the finals of F1 in Schools, there is little point in trying... Also the fees are upwards of 40k a year

This is a very pessimistic view on things.

1150 students are admitted each year to undergraduate MIT, of which 10% (so 115) are internationals. Admission rate for internationals is 3% however due to how the US university application system works with people applying to up to 20 universities at a time, alongside people applying to high level universities even if they don't have the profile for it, that's not actually as low as it sounds. And you have to remember that while MIT is great, there are certainly other universities/colleges in the US or elsewhere in the world which people would have reason to choose over MIT, so the offer rate is likely somewhat higher.

In terms of academics you will be mostly assessed on your SAT scores, for this you should get 1500+ in your SAT and high 700s in your SAT subject tests, of which you should take two or three. By having A levels and coming from the UK you are already at a significant advantage, as A levels are already an advanced point of education compared to the large majority of applicants and there aren't that many applicants from the UK as we already have a stellar university system. That said he will likely need AAA or A*AA, from what I remember when I was applying, Yale stated AAA was the range they were looking for on their website, and this was only a few years ago so I don't think it will have gone up.

In terms of extracurriculars, yes, they will need to do way more and add in some non-STEM oriented stuff as US universities love being well rounded.

As for finances, MIT is one of the few US universities which is need-blind for internationals, so they will admit you without taking into account your financial need and then provide you with the appropriate amount of money dependent on your parents' income. If OP is middle class, they will probably get nearly all of their fees paid for as the maximum amount before you start having to pay more is pa from what I remember when I looked a few months ago, so that's like £90,000. MIT is different in that they do expect you to put I think per year towards your costs even if you are below this income threshold, however you would do this via internships, of which if you're doing this in the US you will earn far more than that. Also as someone from a middle class background, their parents may well be contributing a similar amount if they were to study in the UK.

To OP, studying there is different in that there is no fixed structure, whereas UK degrees are based around a fixed course structure with a handful of optional classes. You will also have to fulfil liberal arts requirements of classes which are unrelated to your major (at MIT you have the option of some pretty weird classes for this if I remember correctly, it sounds awesome). In terms of assessment, they will assess you much more regularly via weekly quizzes and midterms and so you will need to work regularly too and keep up your attendance, whereas in the UK system you're usually assessed based mostly upon a final assignment or exam worth 90%+ of the class, and so most of the semester is very relaxed and you will work much harder towards the end.

As a highly qualified, passionate student, what are your chances of getting into MIT from the U.K., if you have great grades and 2-3 Engineering/STEM extra-curriculars? How is studying there different to the U.K., and how do you finance studying abroad if you come from a middle-class family?

I'm pretty sure they take into account the rigor of your course load. you can search it up. if your school allows u to take 4 a levels then do it as that is usually the most rigorous course load.

They don’t care about how many a levels. 4 isn’t an advantage to 3