How "thin" is my file? And where should I go next?

[snozberries]

Hey all. I've been lurking for some time, enjoying all the great advice you folks have to offer. I'm pretty new to credit, and I'm wondering where to go next.

I've got 8 open accounts, 5 student loans (totaling about 15k), i've been an authorized user on a Chase Continental (25k limit, <8% utl., dad's card) since 2009, I have a 6 month old auto loan, and I have a Discover w/ $1500 limit reporting minimal balances for 6months. I have also recently been added as an AU to my dad's Amex, but it is a small business card and it has yet to report. I was able to set up an online account that gives me a Member Since 2012 date, but I'm unsure if it will report and as of now isn't affecting my scores.

Average age of accounts is 2 years 9months, my oldest account (a student loan) is almost five years old. I have 2 inqs on EQ and EX, and 1 on TU, mainly from the auto loan. I have no negatives on my report.

My EQ score from this website is 703, my TU from this site is 730. I applied for and was denied a Freedom six months ago because I had no revolving tradelines that I was financially responsible for. Income is about 45k.

I'm basically happy with my Discover for much of my everyday purchasing, but I would like to get my hands on one or two more revolving tradelines to really help build my credit. I have no short term plans to get myself into a mortgage or a new auto loan or anything like that. My goal is to get a VISA/MC and Amex so that I don't have to worry about my card being accepted and I can start building a history with more than one revolving creditor. A nice rewards structure would be a bonus, but I am also looking to get above 1500 limit if at all possible. Basically, I'm wondering if my credit file plays out as "6 month history=deny!" or if I have a good chance with some of the other prime creditors like Citi, BoA, Chase, Barclays, Amex (tho w/ them I would wait to see on my AU situation and try in Jan), etc. Honestly, I'm wondering how i got the Discover in the first place.

Any advice and insight would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Revelate]

You're not badly off, the only question on being thin or not is how the student loans are looked at, which I know aren't 1:1 with standard installment loans in all cases (Auto financing as an example).  Also AU's don't help in all situations so I tend to discount those when evaluating someone's profile.

You're basically at this: a solid six months on a credit card and an auto loan (good stuff btw) and any extra bonus you might receive from the student loans.

I agree you need two more revolving tradelines absolutely; however, you have a little bit of a choice.  You can apply now and probably be fine on some of the entry-level prime cards, but once your current card and your auto loan tick over the one year mark, you're going to have more options.  Normally I'd suggest just going and opening whatever you could, but six months is kind of a wash, and mathematically you're best off with Amex (since you have your MS date set at 2012) by just getting any one of their cards in January of '13.  Making the second, and maybe third dependant on you needs, application at the same time is to your advantage in that scenario.

Personally I think I'd wait: you'll look prettier to lenders in January and there's only a small downside to waiting in your situation (loss of six months history on one revolving tradeline, not a huge deal mid-term and no issue long-term).