Regular to Student CC's --is it bad?

[LilyV]

Hello! I'm a longtime lurker and (most importantly) I want to say thank you to everyone in this forum for helping me build my credit! Ever since I was a kid, I was told to avoid CCs, but you wonderful posters slowly eased my fear that they aren't all bad and now I'm going crazy with just applying for them! haha! I'm not maxing out my cards; I'm simply playing the 1%-9% util. ratio on 1 card game, 0% on each.

I received CCs from major companies that I initially thought I wasn't going to get-- so, THANK YOU! If additional information about the cards & credit scores are required, I'll post them.

However, my question stands:

As of right now, I have a steady job with currently 4 (soon to be ?) credit cards. However, I plan on becoming unemployed to go into nursing school around fall of next year. Does it hurt my credit score or make me look bad with the CC company if I convert regular credit cards to student credit cards? My other question is what are the repercussions if I'm reporting no income? Will credit card companies decrease my limit or "ding" me for future loans?  And I'll also be reporting no income for two years. (I will use the credit card from time to time for emergencies/avoid inactivity and obviously pay them every month with my savings.)

Thank you again for your assistance!

[Iorek]

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@LilyV wrote:

Hello! I'm a longtime lurker and (most importantly) I want to say thank you to everyone in this forum for helping me build my credit! Ever since I was a kid, I was told to avoid CCs, but you wonderful posters slowly eased my fear that they aren't all bad and now I'm going crazy with just applying for them! haha! I'm not maxing out my cards; I'm simply playing the 1%-9% util. ratio on 1 card game, 0% on each.

I received CCs from major companies that I initially thought I wasn't going to get-- so, THANK YOU! If additional information about the cards & credit scores are required, I'll post them.

However, my question stands:

As of right now, I have a steady job with currently 4 (soon to be ?) credit cards. However, I plan on becoming unemployed to go into nursing school around fall of next year. Does it hurt my credit score or make me look bad with the CC company if I convert regular credit cards to student credit cards? My other question is what are the repercussions if I'm reporting no income? Will credit card companies decrease my limit or "ding" me for future loans?  And I'll also be reporting no income for two years. (I will use the credit card from time to time for emergencies/avoid inactivity and obviously pay them every month with my savings.)

Thank you again for your assistance!

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Is there a particular reason why you would want to convert your regular cards into student cards? While your credit report won't explicitly state that the cards are student version, if they were to decrease your limits that could effect util which could hurt your score. I don't see any benefit to doing this.

The credit card companies are only going to know about your income if you ask for a CLI or apply for new cards. Though, there are a few lenders who give the option to update your income/job if you so choose. If you charge a lot in the case of emergency and don't pay it down sufficiently fast, that may raise a red flag.

Personally, I would just lay low and continue to use the cards wisely as you have mentioned. 

[LilyV]

Well, I thought if I convert my cards to student credit cards, they'll know why status would be unemployed and I wouldn't want anything bad going for my CC because I will be a student (once again) in the near future. Again, I'm new to the whole credit card game, so that was my way of thinking. LOL now that I re-think my process, it definitely doesn't make sense.

Yes, I won't be applying for any CC and won't ask for any CLI at that time. But you did bring up a valid point & now I have another question:

My cards carry a CL of 4,500 to 6,000. Since I won't be spending much when that time comes (probably no more than $100 so I can easily pay it off), is it possible that credit card companies would lower my CL and that would decrease my credit score?? (if the util. is at 0% - 1%)

Thanks for helping out, lorek!

[Iorek]

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@LilyV wrote:

Well, I thought if I convert my cards to student credit cards, they'll know why status would be unemployed and I wouldn't want anything bad going for my CC because I will be a student (once again) in the near future. Again, I'm new to the whole credit card game, so that was my way of thinking. LOL now that I re-think my process, it definitely doesn't make sense.

Yes, I won't be applying for any CC and won't ask for any CLI at that time. But you did bring up a valid point & now I have another question:

My cards carry a CL of 4,500 to 6,000. Since I won't be spending much when that time comes (probably no more than $100 so I can easily pay it off), is it possible that credit card companies would lower my CL and that would decrease my credit score?? (if the util. is at 0% - 1%)

Thanks for helping out, lorek!

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Not a problem.

It is possible that your CLs would be decreased. They can decrease it at their whim. It is probable? I don't think so.

As long as you don't raise any red flags, like going from charing $100/month to $4,000/month, they probably just won't care as long as you pay your bills on time. If you don't use the cards at all, then they might get reduced/closed after 6+ months. 

[LilyV]

Perfect!! I feel so much better not having to worry about this. Thank you so much for your assistance once again! Have a great weekend!