<p>I don’t think you can talk them around until they see you doing it, and maybe until they see you successful. But remember that even though you want to make peace with them, you don’t have to dedicate your life to a job you hate. It’s your life, and they’ll eventually come around and see you have to do what’s right for you.</p>
<p>You should have no trouble finding a school that will give you merit scholarship if your GPA matches your SAT, which is a score worthy of <strong>any</strong> school. However, you won’t get need-based aid if your parents refuse to fill out the financial aid forms, and you may not qualify for it anyway, depending on how successful the auto shop is. </p>
<p>You’ll probably have a lot of options. But please don’t decide to take on lots of debt for school; you shouldn’t need to. The schools most likely to give merit aid are the ones where your scores are in the top quarter of the school’s applicant pool. You can determine this from the college board website - just go there and enter a school name. THere’s lots of info to be found there.</p>
<p>Basically the way applications works is, you find colleges based on your major, location, size, etc. preferences, (on college board or this site or your high school counselor), pick 5 - 10 schools, and apply in first semester of your senior year. Many of the schools may be Common App schools, meaning that you don’t have to enter the same information over and over. The school’s web site will tell you how to apply. The Common App is free, but many schools have application fees. You have to get letters of recommendation from teachers who love you. If you search around this site you’ll find plenty of discussion on the basic application process, and this is the time to be doing it. You can’t wait much longer. </p>
<p>GOod luck.</p>