Don't mean to set off the "I'm behind" alarm, but goaliegirl's college tours started at the beginning of her sophomore year. Now granted, it was a convenient kill of time while in Boston, but it definitely started her thinking about what was more important in a school. And as we know, students live on a campus not in the virtual world of CC rankings
It also helped that goaliegirl was very motivated to look at the schools in question, but even with that she came out with clear preferences among the schools visited.
My recommendation to you is that if there is a period of August before your HS start date that you can visit college campuses while they are in full swing. It also helps to demystify much of the misunderstanding that kids have about college life.
I don't know how much your kids are on board with your "J" personality (or perhaps they react by dragging their feet asserting their independence, UGH!), but you probably want to select schools based upon their interests, perhaps with a nearby contrasting school of your choice thrown in to make things interesting.
Point is that the kid has to kiss a few toads along with the princes to truly firm up their college view. And who knows, one of those toads may end up being prince charming.
I know that with goaliegirl, she was initially dead set against small schools, especially in small towns. This came from being a bit bored with her small boarding school in a small town. However, having spent some time on some small schools and the environs nearby, she has been able to discover that yes, there is life to be lived even at these schools. In fact, with here current school list (she is a rising senior), the greater majority of her candidate schools are small schools.
We have done a few campus tours since then and have some more coming up soon and I have come to find that goaliegirl has some filters that I wouldn't have guessed at before. She has an eclectic taste in architecture, but there are some schools that definitely leave her cold. So now she want to see schools in person before applying.
I think once you have a few successful tours, your rising juniors will be looking for more opportunities to check out more schools.
So use your "J-ness" carefully and you can inspire.