Understanding FICO® Scoring

[EaglesFan2006]

I recently pulled my CR from Credit Karma and was a little surprised to see it was lower than I expected.  That said, I have a few questions

1) Is this score an accurate FICO

2) My major drawback is utilization, which I understand.  I plan to fix that my adjusting when I pay so that balances are reported as 0.  Of course, using their simulator to see my score change if I paid off all CC only yielded an increse of 42 points...isn't that pretty low, esp considering i have 5 CC

3) My biggest question...I have two old Collectoins, both slated to fall off in early 2013 (at least according to the Transunion dates listed on the report).  The credit simulator on CK doesn't allow you to see what your score would look like if a derogatory mark drops off, but it does list the scoring impact as HIGH.  So, when these negatives drop off in early 2013, what kind of credit impact can I expect to see?

[chasmith]

CK is a FAKO, not a FICO.

[EaglesFan2006]

Thanks that's kind of what I thought...so what is the actual difference between a FAKO and FICO...is FAKO generally lower?

[chasmith]

You can't generalize, a FAKO might be higher or lower than FICO, they are simply "different"

[DaveSignal]

CK is calculated totally differently to FICO, and I have never seen it even remotely close.

[Shogun]

General rule of FAKO score in relation to your FICO score is +/- 200 points.   But there is good new, yes, with the 2 CAs falling off you should see an improvement to your score.