hey Melinda-- adding to what the others have said, when you apply for lots of new credit in a relatively short period of time is something that a lender would assign some level of risk to... the assumption being that you are putting yourself in a position to incur debt and have to manage it. So that very well could lower a credit score in the short term. So if you have a decent score, maybe think about not messing with your credit too much if you're about to apply for a car loan or mortgage. If you're trying to manage your credit to buy a house or refinance down the line, it will help in the long run. In general it's marathon, not a sprint so make your payments on time and don't max out your credit cards (the less credit you use compared to your available credit limits, the better) and your scores will improve with time!