help to narrow my LAC school list

<p>hi, everyone. i'm an international student.i have made my LAC school list,but there are too many . i want no more than 10,because i will apply some universities either. so could u help me to narrow them? and what do u think of my list ? do they match me or are they safe enough for me? thanks</p>

<p>my information:
GPA:3.8 Rank:8/550
SAT:math:800. verbal:550. writing:610
TOEFL:92</p>

<p>social activities:
1.Volunteer at the summer World Economic Forum in Davos
2.Official member of the Charity Federation Volunteers Branch and often do community works in the old folks,orphanage,train station,WAL-MART super centre ,city library,etc.
3.The undersecretary of Organization Department of Student Union
4.Member of the Organization Department and Press pool of Student Council
5.The monitor of the class</p>

<p>interships:
bank and kindergarten</p>

<p>awards:
second prize of english speech competition in my city twice
first prize of chorus competition many times
second prize of singapore art competition</p>

<p>my LAC list:
middlebury carleton wesleyan u grinnell<br>
oberlin colby bates<br>
lafayette bard union franklin and marshall richmond rhodes sara lawrence<br>
st.lawrence hobart and william smith lake forest ohio wesleyan</p>

<p>ps:i want to study economics and Financial aid to international students is a very important factor to me
help me ,please</p>

<p>do you have any idea what you are looking for in a school? the schools on your list have different "feels".</p>

<p>oh,i like the school that make me feel warm. i mean the students are friendly not arrogant. and students like to help each other and easy to make friends.
also the school better not be a party school ,it should have some workload but not cutthroat. the academic climate is cooperative not competitive.
so any advices?</p>

<p>Do you have a preference as to how close to a city you want the school to be?</p>

<p>Since I go to Oberlin, I can confirm that it is friendly, noncompetitive, and is also not a huge party school. I also believe it offers good financial aid to international students, which I think is not that common. I am not super familiar with the other schools, though I have a feeling that many of them also match what you are looking for. I think the social environment may vary more between some schools too so you might want to look into that.</p>

<p>I just graduated from Carleton College, which has a decent-sized international population, and is full of a bunch of lovely and slightly strange people who work really hard but generally try not to let themselves get too wound up about it. From what I know about the other schools on your list, Grinnell, Oberlin, and maybe Ohio Wesleyan have a pretty similar feel, in being not cutthroat and pretty relaxed about the work they do. Middlebury, Wesleyan, Smith, Sarah Lawrence, and maybe Colby and Bates are pretty similar to each other as well...maybe a little less laid-back, but small with high-end academics. Hope that helps.</p>