Some people wait to think about college until junior year or senior year, in my opinion you should start thinking about it freshman year, not where to go, just play with the idea of going to college, think about if you want to go or not. Then in sophomore year my opinion start planning, think about what you want to do after high school or what you take an interest in, during my sophomore year I was thinking about teaching or engineering or being a writer. Then in your junior year that's when you should start talking to counselors or guardians about going to school, then try to look deeply in colleges and see which would be best for you and your career. The start applying, my suggestion is to apply to more than 3, so if two say no and one says yes then you have that option to go to that school. Then you enter your senior year with a college to go to and all you have to worry about is the money situation, then if you have a scholarship then there isn't that much to worry about. Just try to be prepared, sometimes the first college you apply to isn't going to be accepted, it just depends.