<p>there are a couple of things you should do. One is to investigate your potential career field (DA) more closely. Have you interned in the DA's office? Talked to DA's and found out what they liked about their job? If not, there is an excellent book, the bible of job-searching, called "What Color is My Parachute". It explains the concept of informational interviewing, talking to people working in a field to find out more about it. As a HS or college student you'll find out that people are happy to talk to you about their career, and in college (or even this year) you ought to be able to find a way to work in a DA's office to see if its really for you. But this is a little less immediate than the college search.</p>
<p>As for the college search, its only August so you have time to do it right. From what you've posted, I don't think you have a solid plan yet on how to pick colleges. Don't focus on names until you've set up the criteria. Most people do just the opposite, put together a random list of highly rated schools and then try to figure out which will take them and which they might enjoy. Here's the steps I recommend.</p>
<p>1) Learn about the various flavors of the colleges. Get 2 or 3 books about college admissions since each author has a different point of view. Start with a book by Loren Pope such as "Colleges that Change Lives", and a second book for a different perspective. A fantastic online article about broadening the search by US News is at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/djtnm%5B/url%5D">http://tinyurl.com/djtnm</a></p>
<p>2) Set expectations. This means having your parents fill out one of the financial aid estimators to see what they are expected to contribute, and see if they can/will do that. This means evaluating your stats critically and choosing colleges that are realistic and not just dreaming of the same set of Ivy's and top LACs everyone else lists.</p>
<p>3) Investigate. Visit nearby of various types; a large U, a smaller U, a LAC, an urban school, a rural school. Talk to people, take the tour. Find out what environment you prefer. Do you want to be in-state or far away? At a school with a big-time sports program? Large lecture classes or smaller ones such as at a LAC? A school with a big greek scene? A school where everyone lives on/near campus? A strong semester-overseas program? The chance to take music classes? if you're a non-major? The books in step (1) will help clue you in to the options colleges can offer, now you're poking around and finding out what's right for you.</p>
<p>4) Set criteria. With the info you've gathered in step (1-3) put together a list of what you're looking for. The better informed you are about what you're looking for, the easier it is to recognize it when you see it.</p>
<p>5) Select. Get one of the books that lists hundreds of colleges. There are 3000+ colleges out there, and while you can't look at every one you can look at broad swaths. Read thru and find colleges that provide what you want. Pay particular attention to a safety and matches. Then blow one or two picks on a reach. Most students do just the opposite; they fill out a list of reaches, then try to pick a safety and a match or two. Just look at some threads on this forum to see what I mean.</p>
<p>6) Check it out. Visit the schools if you can when its back in session, preferably overnite. Ask the school to put you in touch with current students home for the summer in your area. Read the school paper online, look for live-journal entries by current students, etc. Try to build a picture in your mind of whether you'd really be happy there.</p>