AMEX BCE- Student Approval Chances?

[happyinthesun]

Hello all,

I have been a lurker on the forums for over a year now and am very interested in establishing a healthy credit history through my college years. I am currently 19 years old and right now my next goal card is the BCE. I was wondering what my chances were of approval, or when I should consider applying.

Current Cards:

AMEX Zync - Authorized User - No Spending Limit July 2012

Discover it (was more) - $850 August 2012

Citi Forward - $1000 September 2012

Being a student my income is a bit low at about 12.000 but I was told once I could include financial aid money in my income but I am not sure how true that is. 

Thank you 

[espnjunkie]

Hard to say for certain, but I would wait to apply for BCE if I were you. I'm not saying that you would be denied, but the BCE is by no means a 'student' card. Amex generally looks for solid credit history and income before approving for that card. I was able to get approved for the green card with about 7 months of solid credit history, granted I was also working full time though. 

With regards to financial aid, I am not sure if that counts as incoem or not. Persoanlly I wouldn't look at debt as income.

[happyinthesun]

I actualy have no student loan debt, just a lot of grants and scholarships to clarify. 

[cmthomas06]

I too am a student with low income and have been denied every single time I have applied (3x). You can claim any money you recieve as income as long as it is used for something other than school related expenses. For example, my partner uses his refund check to pay for 8months of rent up front; therefore he claims it as income. 

But always remember, YMMV! Good luck if you do apply =) 

[Radek7752]

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@happyinthesun wrote:

Hello all,

I have been a lurker on the forums for over a year now and am very interested in establishing a healthy credit history through my college years. I am currently 19 years old and right now my next goal card is the BCE. I was wondering what my chances were of approval, or when I should consider applying.

Current Cards:

AMEX Zync - Authorized User - No Spending Limit July 2012

Discover it (was more) - $850 August 2012

Citi Forward - $1000 September 2012

Being a student my income is a bit low at about 12.000 but I was told once I could include financial aid money in my income but I am not sure how true that is. 

Thank you 

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I am a student with a BCE and I have a few friends with other cards in the "Blue" line. I don't think your income is going to be the issue. Amex is not particularly looking to help you build credit history with such a card. They expect you to have an established history. It would be difficult to give you an answer with only what you have provided; however, best of luck if you decide to apply.

[Creditaddict]

Apply!

If denied, I suggest you apply for Gold Charge and take that for a bit while it's free for a year then try again for blue in 3 months, 6 months, until you get it!

BUT Skip student and go for BCE as others have said... you could try creditcards.com my partner got pre-approval for BCE with a better bonus and got instant approval.

[drkaje]

You credit history is less than one year. IMO, it would be a wasted pull if you applied now.