How we cut college costs

Strategy: Sami was accepted to several colleges that offered her half-tuition merit scholarships. She pursued additional merit awards from the schools through mid-April. To lure her away from her first-choice college, Susquehanna offered an extra assistantship (she helps a legal studies professor with research) that further cuts her tuition.

Savings: $5,000 a year

Advice: Sami's father, Shawn, an attorney, used some lawyerly wisdom: "It is a common tactic for attorneys to hold their cards until the last minute." He told the schools Sami would decide only after the family heard about the late deadline scholarships.

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