My suggestion is that you get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and spend this summer going through a handful of colleges at a time. Write notes in the book. Write down questions. Don’t worry about whether your list of schools is too long or too short. Just come up with a list of schools that interest you. Start from there. You can always pare the list down or build it up.
Second, I suggest that you focus on safety and likely accepted schools that you would absolutely love to attend, then look for matches that you feel the same way about, and finally reaches. Keep in mind that any school which accepts fewer than 20% of its applicants is a lottery pick for anyone. I know students with 35-36 ACT scores and straight A’s who were turned down by half a dozen of those schools. You may win the lottery, but don’t set yourself up for disappointment.