New to Credit, denied student credit card

Anonymous · ‎07-23-2012

Hi everyone! I am an 18 year old who is just about heading into college in about 4 weeks, I am new to credit. Although I do have 3 inquiries on my report, (One was based off of me reapplying to a card because of a mistake they couldn't fix at the time, and also getting a two year contract on my phone) would I be able to apply to a card or should I just wait the 2 years for the inquiries to go away before applying for credit again? Also about a student loan or car loan, what should I do? Thanks in advance!

Repo-ed · ‎07-23-2012

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone! I am an 18 year old who is just about heading into college in about 4 weeks, I am new to credit. Although I do have 3 inquiries on my report, (One was based off of me reapplying to a card because of a mistake they couldn't fix at the time, and also getting a two year contract on my phone) would I be able to apply to a card or should I just wait the 2 years for the inquiries to go away before applying for credit again? Also about a student loan or car loan, what should I do? Thanks in advance!

What you do here in the very near future will determin what type of poster you will be here on this site 20 years from now.

Get a few secured cards; I would suggest from a local CU. Use those exclusively. Build up your file. Actually establish a FICO score. Within a year, you will be good to go.

Be RESPONSIBLE. All of us here, wish we had taken the responsible route with credit back at 18.

5/2012: 560 credit scores across the board
12/2014: 750+
3/2017: 780+
11/2019: 833
2/2023: Experian via Chase United Explorer CC pull - 891

Anonymous · ‎07-23-2012

Yeah I joined my Credit union down here, I believe I need one more payment stub to show them. All I really want to do with it is pay gas/phone bill (Which I pay for anyway) so I can establish credit. Also I was told to pay 90-95% to keep a small balance and it helps with the credit score quicker, is that true?

trumpet-205 · ‎07-23-2012

Don't revolve your balance. What I would do is say charge $100 on your CC. Pay $90 first before statement cuts (let $10 report on CR). Then pay off the remaining $10 before due date.

SCF · ‎07-23-2012

Like the others have said, it would be a great idea to get 1 or 2 secured cards.

As far as balance, I wouldn't worry about it right now as long as you are paying on-time and in full (to avoid interest and taking on debt). A good chunk of your score is based on utilization (aka util), which is what percentage of your available credit you're using. But your util doesn't have a "history" per se. Any time someone pulls your score, it is calculated based on your util for that particular moment. In your case, you don't really need to worry about it unless you're applying for something.

If I were you, I'd set my limits so that I could keep the bill under 50% of the limit and such that I knew I could comfortably pay that 50% every month without a problem. Then, set up your auto-pays and basically forget it for the rest of college. By the time you graduate, you'll have 4 years of good history and 1 or 2 unsecured cards and no CC debt, which is a great place to start.

Anonymous · ‎07-24-2012

I can't speak for secured cards as I never had one but before I went to college (last year) I applied for a Citi student card (it was silver), a Discover student card, and the Cap1 Journey. Citi denied me, Discover wanted me to send in proof that I was going to school as well as 10 other documents so I just told them nevermind and Cap1 gave it to me on the spot. Personally, my score is pretty good and I am happy with it, but I am also AU on half of my accounts (6 in total). One of my recent scores I saw was 734 and CK is reporting 724. So as long as you use it wisely I don't see an issue with getting a unsecured card. HOWEVER, if you think you may have a problem with spending then I would do secured. Also watch out for the APRs. I always PIF.

Creditaddict · ‎07-24-2012

So right now you are not generating a credit score correct?

Inq. and how your balance reports (Lets actually get a credit card before you worry about how it reports a balance!) like others said don't worry about balance right now... how your balance reports is only important when you are about to apply for more credit ore car loans and mortgages....

Anyway... Where do you live?

What school you going to?

What Credit Union did you open an account at? (Do they have a "Secured Credit Line or Secured Loan" type of account... it's a great way to take out a $500 loan and pay off in 3-6 months (They will tell you how many months it can be and such but you are securing it with your own money and the interest rate is typically under 4% so it doesn't cost you much but it gives you a loan that will report to your credit and get you that score in 6 months that you need and builds more history with them.

What Gas Station do you use or have options of using?

Ill suggest other things if you want to respond to the questions I posted above.