^About this: the first FIRST thing you do is talk with your parents about budget. Run the NPC on your state flagship, a private college you like, and a college you consider a safety for your stats. Discuss the results. What can they afford out of pocket (from income and savings)? Are they expecting you to earn a full-tuition scholarship and if so are they okay going to college wherever that full tuition scholarship is located?
Also, visit all sorts of colleges withn driving distance: a Catholic university, a local public college, your state flagship, a selective LAC, a small LAC with partnerships, a tech school…Even if you wouldn’t want to attend, this will give you an idea of what you like: do you want to be in class with 200 people or with 20? do you like the large campus even if it means taking a bus to go from class to class or would you rather walk? Do you enjoy the idea of a core? DO you want to be the “big fish” in a small pond with all the advantages it brings, or would you rather be one among many bright fish?
Borrow a Fiske GUide and a Princeton review’s best colleges from your school library and find 10 colleges you hadn’t heard of and found that you liked.
Once you have budget parameters, start your list.