When to Apply for Blue or Clear

[smc733]

Hi Everyone,

One more thread from me, haha.  So now I closed my Banana Republic Card, so I only have my two cards:

-Citi Platinum Select ($1200)

-BankAmericard Power Rewards Visa Signature ($700)

Equifax: 667 | TransUnion:  653 (ouch!!!)

I've decided I do NOT want a charge card.  I want either Blue, Clear, or perhaps a Discover More Card as my third and final card.  I realize I will have to wait to pull up my scores for this to happen.  I have not a single late/delinquincy, just a lot of inquiries and both my current accounts were opened in May.  My current Student Loan Balances are $49k (Will be around $100k at graduation, not terrible I guess for a top 50 Uni degree, gotta spend money to make money... :-/)

FWIW:  Two friends of mine in college got Blue Sky with 742 and 748 respectively on Equifax.

So does anyone have some ideas as to when I should apply for each of these cards?  Again, they got approved without having a charge product, and I'm not seeing the purpose of a charge product (other than building a relationship (which isn't that important to me)), as I'll never meet the breakeven point (not while I'm in college).

[TheCreditKid]

I Think I read your previous page. Didn't you applied for a ZynC before?

[Wolf3]

I still think Discover first.

[ferrari]

IMO you should wait until both your new accoutns are 1 year old and you have no inquiries in past 12 months (it was listed as a reason in the denial letter I got)

Also you should have 1 of your card reporting a balance of <9% and the other one reporting a zero balance.

All you can do now is keep paying your bills on time until May 2011.

[CrdtLrnr]

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@ferrari wrote:

IMO you should wait until both your new accoutns are 1 year old and you have no inquiries in past 12 months (it was listed as a reason in the denial letter I got)

Also you should have 1 of your card reporting a balance of <9% and the other one reporting a zero balance.

All you can do now is keep paying your bills on time until May 2011.

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Concur!

[wollepopolle]

Yikes! 100k! That is a HUGE burden for the future. Unless you're a medical student, it'll be hard to recover anytime soon (and even then). I know a guy who has a PhD from an ivy-league university and who is unemployed due to lack of jobs. Then I know a guy who has a 60K salary in his first year and who has a master's from a mid-level university. There is no prediction in these rankings anymore. Maybe you should speed up your studies and save some money in student loans. Good luck nonetheless!

The cards that you want to get are good ones. I love both the Discover and the Blue (I have the Blue Cash)! Just wait a little and let your credit build. Then apply. Discover might even be a bit easier to get. I think the Blue has better rewards than the Clear. But I have never had the Clear, so I cannot speak from my experience.

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@smc733 wrote:

  My current Student Loan Balances are $49k (Will be around $100k at graduation, not terrible I guess for a top 50 Uni degree, gotta spend money to make money...

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[smc733]

I'm an engineering major, so I'll enter a pretty well paying field, though I'll live tight for the first few years and hope I pay down a good bit of the principal.

As for the other cards, I realize Discover might be easier to get, so therefore first, but I'll probably go one or the other, as I can't see having 4 cards while I'm in college.  So what is the best of the three to have?  What do they offer over my current cards?  And which one gives a better rate of return on minimal spending?

I was thinking I would apply for the cards in March, which would leave the following inquiries on my report (looking out 1 year):

May:  Citi (Approved)

April:  BofA (Approved)

June:  BofA (Approved)

June:  Amex (Declined)

June:  Discover (Declined)

June:  Chase (Declined)

August:  Amex (Declined)

August:  PNC (Student loan) (Approved, thanks Dad for cosigning!)

August: Discover (Declined)

But if they look out 6 months, I would be clear.

Also, for the person that asked, Amex told me they were on the fence and requested the 4506-T.  I then called and they declined me over the phone because "your income is zero because it is based on your last tax return, therefore we can't approve your application".

If I'm not a big spender now, and probably won't be immediately following graduation, does Discover work better, or is Amex still a better choice?

Thanks for everyone's input, I don't know where I'd go without these forums.

Also when should I hard-inqury for a CLI on my two cards?