In this state, we have an organization called NHEAF (New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation). I don't the full scope of their duties, but I do know that they run a program every fall called "Discover U" that is designed to get 8th graders interested in college. The reason is that according to their research, a majority of kids formulate the idea to attend or not attend college by the time they are in the 8th grade. They further say that if one were to poll high school students, 90% would say they plan to go to college, but only 50% would be taking the courses necessary to get them there. The Discover U program is designed to spark students interest in attending college and educate both students and parents in what will be required to achieve that goal.
The year my son was in 8th grade, he had the choice of attending the program on the campus of St. Anselm, Franklin Pierce, and one other school that I can't remember off-hand. He looked first at which schools had his intended major (which remains the same to this day) and second at the strength of their baseball program.
When we attended the school he chose, the kids had a question and answer session with a panel of college students from 10 different colleges throughout our state, they toured the campus, and they filmed a game show in the television studio while we parents had our own Q&A session with admissions directors and financial aid officers from a number of different colleges - both public and private.
Among the eye-opening tidbits that I picked up (eye-opening for me anyway) was that it is better for high school students to challenge themselves by taking harder courses than to take courses which assure a 4.0 GPA. Reason? Students who will challenge themselves in high school are more likely to challenge themselves in college. Additionally, they said that college admissions counsellors have access to each student's HS grade point scale (weighted and non-weighted) and they have access to the list of courses offered by each HS, so they know what courses the student had available to them and they know if the student took the easy way out to get the higher grades.
My son has opted for honors level classes and has an average GPA. That will no doubt close some doors for him, but the movement on his fastball may open others. We shall see.