IMO, if he is fishing in the right pond, nothing is going to happen until the summer, and then it will happen really, really fast. Now is the time to work on grades, SAT/ACT prep and have a great Jr. season and make sure he's signed up for the right summer events.
Edit to say: if it is the right pond, and you have the money and your son has the availability, there's no reason _not_ to get on a plane and visit the campuses he would most like to see. It's really hard to get a feel for what life on a LAC campus is like in the middle of summer.