<p>I started researching colleges online my freshmen year extensively, but it’s hard to know about grades and SATs to see where you match up. I think the time to start visiting would be the summer before Junior year all up until the fall of Senior year and then in the Spring for Accepted Students Visits. I know it was important for me to see different types of schools in different locations to see what I wanted, but I needed to be realistic about money and scores. One school that I loved and was a dream, but didnt even end up applying to (for reasons about the fit of the program) made me work harder and gave me motivation to improve my scores. </p>