And CreditFunky, I'll read your link after school today. I definitely like doing long strategy things like that, but also that seems like a lot to keep up with. I'm no genius!
Overthinking, yes!
Not AMEX but a few other cards ive applied been denied and applied the next week and was approved.
3 cards I believe is minimum so you dont get the "too few tradeline accounts"
Adding cards now will drag your AAoA down. I added 8 new cards, took my AAoA from 8 years to 5 months. Now in a few years I could app for 5 more cards if I wanted and it would not impact my AAoA as much because ive got a billion cards. Having 1 card and adding a new account should just about halve your current AAoA. (so yes, overall in the long run itll help)
Ive got 50+ inqs on one report 35+ on the other 2, im still being approved for cards. I wouldnt worry about your inqs. Especially if they "fall off" in a year, that means none of your inqs are probably factoring into your score right now. (past 1 year mark)
its my opinion and doesnt make it right 
Good luck!
(Id just apply, you wont know until you do)\ and if its a denial, youll know what you need to fix by the reasons on the denial letter)
*edit*
left post up for most of day before I replied, oops 
@Anonymous wrote:
@Santi78342 wrote:Your score(s) are great, your INQs are great, you've got a year under your belt, you've already got a decent credit line with Discover, at this point, you can pretty much pick and choose two cards you really like and will most likely get approved.
You need to have at least 3 cards for maximum FICO scoring purposes so I suggest adding two more now and then in 6 months to a year, you can add more if you'd like.
It would be nice to know your income, but if it's at least $15-$20k your be alright for cards like the BCE or Everyday, Sallie Mae, QuickSilver, Freedom, etc.
If you would like a more in depth analysis on what cards we think would suit your needs, we need to know how much you spend on stuff per month. Are you a big gas spender, grocery spender, restaurant/fast food spender, etc?
Thank yall for awesome responses! My income from 2014 was 15k, but on top of that I live with my parents who pay me back for groceries and some tuition. This year I'm transferring to a private college that's 10k a semester. I talked with Amex about what to put for my income and they said that since that tuition money crosses my account, I should add that to my 15k income for a total of 35k. (I sure hope the IRS doesn't come kicking in my door wanting more tax money!)
My current credit line with Discover is 3750, which is almost enough to charge each tuition payment (and rack up the points!). If I get denied for Amex, will calling and telling them that plan make them more likely to reconsider me with a higher limit so that I could do that with their card instead of Discover?
Also, most of my money spent is at grocery stores and gas stations (school is a 30min commute in a Jeep and work is 20!). So that makes Everyday the perfect card [that I've noticed] for my spending habits
I believe Amex will not reconsider their decisions unless there is an error on your credit report.
You should look at post #5 in this thread and see which card would best suit your needs based on your gas & grocery spending. Courtesy of TheManWhoCan!
EDIT: Sorry, that's actually restaurants & gas on a single card. Hopefully he'll post his grocery & gas chart here. Otherwise I'll look for it.
Take a look at his first chart in message 2!
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Themanwhocan-Charts/td-p/3986754