I am trying to raise my scores as high as possible to help increase my chances of getting a private student loan without a cosigner next spring.
This is my situation:
Right now, I have several credit cards, but only 2 of the cards carry balances. I also have a credit account with Dell.
Card A - $4400 balance out of 6400, 16.9% APR
Card B - $1500 balance out of 2000, 15.9% APR
Dell - $1200 balance out of 2000, 29.9 % APR (ripoff!)
After realizing that I am getting ripped thanks to the 29.9% APR on the Dell card, I am considering doing a balance transfer to Card A, which has a special balance transfer offer right now. After a lot of consideration over whether or not I should do it, I have it narrowed down to 2 Pros and 1 Con.
Pro: - 1 less credit account that shows a balance
- Save money by not having to pay on a 29.9% APR
Con: If I transfer the Dell balance to Card A, it will have a balance of 5600, appearing almost maxed out.
Would the damage done by having Card A with such a high balance (almost maxed out) outweigh the damages caused by having the Dell account remain open with such a high APR? Basically, I am just wondering if doing this BT would help my score or hurt it.
Thanks for any help with my dilemma