Have you visited the websites of the colleges that interest you (or that interest your kids)? I'm often surprised by how few families have.
It's good to be an information seeker when it comes to colleges. You can't sit back and wait for people to hand you the information you need to find, apply and pay for college today. That's why the colleges' own websites are your best friends.
Most of colleges' sites do a very good job of detailing everything from what curriculum they recommend to prepare for admission, to what standardized tests to take, to what forms to fill out for admission and financial aid.
If you want to know what a college requires, their website is the first place you should go.
Your high school counselor can give you good information, too. So can an admissions representative at a college fair, or a professional private counselor with the right experience. But the most important information will be available any time, for free, by just visiting the colleges' websites.
If you feel like you need more guidance about what colleges are looking for, a little information-seeking via their websites will clear up a lot of your confusion.