What my three young adult kids found was that once they had six months of credit to their names, if they had taken good care of it (NO LATES!
), their scores were around 680. And this is what is reported by people who are new to the US and have to start their credit histories here from scratch.
To have a score, you have to have had a minimum of six months straight of some sort of reporting credit, and it has to have reported within the last six months. So for all practical purposes, it will take 6 months of something in her name before she has scores.
If you have a local credit union, or if she's in a college with a credit union, a card from them is a great way to start. She might have to get a secured card, where she deposits the same amount as the credit limit, but these work perfectly well in starting her credit history, and it might help her to be really focused on how seriously she needs to take credit and timely payments.
Good luck to her, and to you too, Mom! You are about to discover a whole new source of grey hairs.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007