Go to a big school. If track does not pan out at least you’ll be at a decent school…
But there are exceptions. My brother started running at 18yo at a CC. Lucky for him there was a coach who knew what he was doing. He went from running 58 sec in the 400mh to 52-53 then he got lucky again and got into NC State (full ride) with another good coach (Tom Jones) who got him to 50 sec in the 400m hurdles. He finished up top 30 in the world 1 year and had the NR in the Dominican republic until Felix Sanchez came along.
It can happen if you go to a CC but you have to have the right people on your side…
Good luck!!!