the next step

I have a sophomore & 1/3. My mind has already started to think about his future, his options, what his best choices can be. I hear from friends with older kids college visits are important. I have a hard time believing going to a campus can truly give you a feel for the college, but ok. This is a far cry from my college experience.

I was all set to go to SCSU, rooming with a friend from high school, a handful of us were going. I remember getting the tuition bill, I believe it was $2700 for the semester. I had some money saved but turned it over to my parents. My mother walked in my bedroom a week before I was supposed to leave for school and said, " We have no money to send you." I had already tried grants, had received a scholarship from Catholic Women's Charities ( I don't even remember signing up to be considered for it), I was counting on my parents to take care of the rest. With the news that my plan was not going to happen ( for the life of me I do not know why no one suggested I get a student loan) I took my transcript, drove to WCSU and enrolled in class there. I worked as a waitress during the days and took classes in the afternoon and evenings. For a while I lived at home, then with roommates. I made the tuition payment and ate ramen noodles for a month or so at a time. It was work, and very little fun.

With God as my witness, this will not be my sons' college experience. ( Ala Scarlett O'Hara)
So Sunday we sat down at the computer and looked at the on-line programs designed to help sort through the seemingly endless possibilities of schools. My hope was to generate a list of maybe 20 solid options and work that list down to ten when it is time to apply. As I read through the list of potential majors he was instructed to write down anything he thought sounded interesting. When I was done, he had two things on his list out of the 75 I read. I asked him about it and he said " Mom I have no idea what half those words mean". I tried taking another approach. I forget sometimes how young 15 is.
City or country? Within driving distance or far away? What sports are important for you to be able to play? Bowling, darts? Beach or mountains? Big school or small? & A whole lot of " I don't know"s.

So I took another stab at it.We (I) randomly picked schools and pulled up a screen that matched his GPA with their requirements. He has a strong GPA so it looked like that was not our best option for whittling down the list. As we do not have the PSAT scores yet, we were just fishing really. I looked over at my son, who was now curled up in the fetal position on the ottoman he had be perched upon, and asked him what he thought. Ha Ha Ha poor kid. We have an appointment with his guidance counselor next week.
But my question, more experienced parents, is how do you do this?