Totally FWIW, since my experience is 30 years ago. I started at Middlebury, then spent junior year at Queens’ University, Belfast, where I decided to stay to complete my degree. (Following, did masters at Cambridge then Phd at LSE, but those are different stories.)
Personally I wouldn’t go to the UK for money reasons. Big picture (meaning, career-long, etc) it’s not that huge, since overseas tuition has increased since I was there.
Still, I’d recommend looking at UK schools for several reasons.
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Admissions are simpler. They more or less tell you what AP exam scores (not class grades you need). If you get them, you’ll probably get in. There’s a personal statement, but it’s about how you’re qualified to succeed in your major, not all the other stuff people sweat over. No legacy/athletic admissions, and even affirmative action is on a simpler basis (some preference for kids from low-income postal codes, similar to how US schools are now using the Landscape Score), but not all the convoluted stuff.
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It’s a focused three year course, at least outside of Scotland (where it’s 4). If you’re interested in further study, you come out ready to rock. I got from starting a BA to finishing a PhD in 7 years, and could have done it in 6 if I hadn’t moved from Cambridge to London post-Masters. Yes, you need to know what you want to do beforehand, but UK students can manage that.
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It’s a great experience to grow up and meet people from around the world. You’re not going home at the weekends to have your mom do your laundry. You’re basically independent, which I think is good (it help my parental relationship a lot!). And our group going out at night would be amazingly diverse, and so much fun.
You do want to think of the US reputation of the UK school. Queens’ Belfast may not have helped me much vs Middlebury, although I don’t think it hurt me – there’s a novelty factor. But I wouldn’t just go to any UK school – worth giving some extra attention to.