The first thing to do is figure out what you want in a school. Big or small, rural, suburban or urban campus, student population size, location (north, south, midwest etc.), public or private. You also look into the relative strength of the degree programs you're interested in...for instance, if you're poli sci, consider a school close to Washington DC.
Using collegeboard.org will help you with a lot of your criteria. It will also give you a heads up on financial aid and scholarships for each school. The most important part of your college search is how you feel when you set foot on campus. A gut feeling.
For college tours-try to break away from your tour guide and talk to regular students, ask them how they like the school. Pick up a copy of the campus newspaper-that's a very telling sign of campus life glossed over by tour guides and brochures.
Good sites:
http://www.collegeboard.org
http://www.colleges.com
I'm sure others have great suggestions too. I bought a couple of big books by the Princeton Review which gave good statistics on every college, including average SAT scores and gpas. I recommend getting a copy.
That's all I got, anymore questions, ask away, and I'm sure someone else has a lot more to add.
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