Applying to Ivy Leagues/American colleges from the UK

Hi everyone!
I'm currently in Year 12, about to start Year 13 this September, and I'm considering applying to American colleges, specifically Stanford and Caltech. I made this decision quite late, so I'm unsure if I'm a strong enough applicant.
Academics:
A-Levels: Design Technology, Maths, and Physics with predicted grades of A*, A, A.
GCSEs: 6 A*'s (grade 9) and 5 A's (8/7s).
Extracurriculars:
Engineering: Gold Crest Award in an engineering project and an engineering-related EPQ.
Tutoring: I’ve been tutoring maths and supporting younger students at school clubs.
Volunteering: 1.3 years at a charity shop and involvement in my school’s Equalities group, organizing events like Culture Day.
Past Interests: I used to swim, play tennis, and play the guitar, but I haven't continued these recently.
I’m concerned that my extracurriculars might not be strong or relevant enough for top American colleges. Should I still consider applying, and if so, could anyone guide me on the process?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi everyone!
I'm currently in Year 12, about to start Year 13 this September, and I'm considering applying to American colleges, specifically Stanford and Caltech. I made this decision quite late, so I'm unsure if I'm a strong enough applicant.
Academics:
A-Levels: Design Technology, Maths, and Physics with predicted grades of A*, A, A.
GCSEs: 6 A*'s (grade 9) and 5 A's (8/7s).
Extracurriculars:
Engineering: Gold Crest Award in an engineering project and an engineering-related EPQ.
Tutoring: I’ve been tutoring maths and supporting younger students at school clubs.
Volunteering: 1.3 years at a charity shop and involvement in my school’s Equalities group, organizing events like Culture Day.
Past Interests: I used to swim, play tennis, and play the guitar, but I haven't continued these recently.
I’m concerned that my extracurriculars might not be strong or relevant enough for top American colleges. Should I still consider applying, and if so, could anyone guide me on the process?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

My advice would be to absolutely apply to all of the schools you're genuinely interested in! The U.S. college admissions cycle is very unique as it is holistic, which at this point really just means that at a certain point it's pretty random. You certainly have the stats to be considered seriously for any of the Ivy's or other T20 schools, but keep in mind that there are a lot of students just as qualified as you, and every year across the country seniors with nearly identical applications as others see wildly different outcomes from the admissions process because a ton of this is a numbers game.
Think of it like this, a well qualified student with exceptional grades/test scores, a stellar personal statement, and successful interviews is very likely to get into Oxbridge. This same student would have a really good shot at getting into a school like Harvard, but to say they'd have a very likely chance would be a stretch. This is because, to be blunt, the admissions process in the U.S is quite flawed in comparison to the UK.
Because of this, while I have no intentions of deterring you from applying to top schools, I would say that if you really want to get into a top school in the U.S, you've got to apply to as many schools as you can possibly manage. This should absolutely include your top picks, Stanford and Caltech, but I'd work on making a more extensive list to increase your probability of getting into a top school. If you need help figuring out some schools, here's some others that I reccomend (I'm assuming you're looking to study Engineering? If not, these are all still great schools):

The list could go on and on and on and on... The point is, there are a ton of top universities in the U.S. and if you apply to a handful of these there's a good chance you'll get into at least a couple! Good luck with everything!

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide such a detailed and thoughtful response—I’m genuinely grateful! Unfortunately, my parents aren’t too keen on the idea of me moving across the world to the U.S. at 18, so I’ve decided to focus on other options for now. However, I might have a chance to convince them around November when my finalised predicted grades come out. If that happens, I’d have to rush the application process quite a bit! For now, I’m definitely planning to apply for master’s programmes or higher education in the U.S. in the future. The U.S. is definitely calling my name! 😂
Thanks again for all the advice!

Hey, if you're gonna be 18 they can't force you to stay. You could be like me; I argued with my parents for months so they would allow me to move from the US to the UK. I told them I would do whatever I needed to get there, and eventually they stopped fighting.

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide such a detailed and thoughtful response—I’m genuinely grateful! Unfortunately, my parents aren’t too keen on the idea of me moving across the world to the U.S. at 18, so I’ve decided to focus on other options for now. However, I might have a chance to convince them around November when my finalised predicted grades come out. If that happens, I’d have to rush the application process quite a bit! For now, I’m definitely planning to apply for master’s programmes or higher education in the U.S. in the future. The U.S. is definitely calling my name! 😂
Thanks again for all the advice!

Predicted grades cannot possibly be given now or even November - you might get target grades but you won't have covered enough content for them to be accurate.