obtaining my Credit Score is driving me crazy. please hep me understand.

[Anonymous]

Hello all, I have recently applied for a discover it student credit card and was denied due to lack of recent bank revolving information, numer of inquiries, lack of evidence of property, and length of time accounts have been applied. I dont know what lack of recent revolving bank information means. could someone explain this to me? Also, how do I have a lack of eveidence of property and of course I have short length of time none of which are credit card accounts. I dont underrstand this because I thought that was the purpose of a student credit card. Additionally, they stated that my credit score was 590 but, when I checked credit karma I had a 560. I tried to obtain a copy of my score from my bank (wells fargo), Discover, and from freecreditreport and none of them were able to provide me with a score. I am so confused because I dont know what to do. Also what should I do to improve my chances of getting approved when I apply later and what should I do to increase my chance of getting approved when I do decide to re apply? when should I re apply? also where can i actually view my credit score at that will be most accurate and will actually give me a score?

[Anonymous]

Revolving credit = credit cards.  If it says you have a lack of revolving credit history, it means you have no credit card history on your credit report... which you already said is the case.  That's however a BS fluff answer.  The reason you aren't getting approved is because your profile is weak, as evidenced by your high 500's score.  Credit Karma provides Vantage Scores, which are not FICO scores.  CK scores can therefore be ignored, as they aren't used by anyone that matters.  The Wells Fargo score you got was a FICO score, although I'm not sure which scoring model.  If you go sign up at creditscorecard.com you can get a free Experian FICO 8 score every month.  That would be a great starting point for you and then you could see from month to month how you're doing.

So, since you have no revolving accounts (CCs) can you give a brief description of the accounts that you DO currently have on your report?  Are they installment loans?  How old is your oldest account?

The fact that you have a high 500's score suggests that you have negative information on your report.  If it's legitimate negative information, you're going to want to work on getting it cleaned up if possible.  If it's not legitimate, you can dispute it and get it removed.  Working on that is the #1 thing you can do to improve your current situation to create a better profile (and score) which will allow you to get approved for the card you're aiming for. 

[Anonymous]

BBS is asking you questions about what your reports like like.

It's not 100% clear to me that you have seen any of your three reports or that you know how to pull them.  If not, don't hesitate to ask BBS about that.

He's a knowledgeable, friendly, and patient guy, good with newcomers (along other things).  He is right that the place to start for anyone is for that person to pull his reports -- not scores -- and learn how to make sense of them.  Many people jump to scores without looking first at the reports.

[Anonymous]

If you are reading your Credit Karma scores you have access to your TU and EQ credit reports. Look both over for any derogatory (baddies) info. Then re-visit these boards with this info. Many of us have been where you are at right now. The first step is to look at your CR's.

[Anonymous]

Agreed on the points made above; Looking at your credit reports is definitely the place to start!  We are more than happy to help you make sense of what's on there if you'd like to share the data with us.

[Anonymous]

First Id like to apologized for my extremely delayed response as I had to remove myself from the real world for a while to prepare for midterms. It is now Spring Break!!! my first college SB. Secondly, Id like to thank you all for such great advice and all the help that was given. Per Credit Karma my TU score is 557, the age of credit history is 4 months, I have 100% payment history, 3 total accounts open (student loan accounts), 0 derogatory marks, and 4 hard inquiries. For my Equifax score I have 100% payment history, 5 month credit history, 0 derogatory marks, 2 total accounts open and 1 hard inquiry. These scores are actually an increase of 1 point since I last reported them to you all.  Also, i have some inquiries that're reported on my credit karma TU score that are false. How do I dispute them?

[Brooklyn2018]

That’s great that you can read the CK app and get some ok info there and see where some things are at and some things aren’t. BUT, you NEED to pull your REAL CREDIT REPORT at
annualcreditreport.com...IT’S FREE once a year.
You ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY need to do this! This way you’ll have an ABSOLUTE CLEAR PICTURE of not only what you’ll see and learn but, what creditors will see and KNOW!
If you haven’t pulled ALL 3 CR’s? CK isn’t going to give you all the information that you’ll need to make the right decisions moving forward. IMHO, I believe that, as stated above by other contributors, should be your FIRST STEP. You just can’t rely on CK and any other free site forever, just saying, IMO.

Good Luck on your studies and wish you much success on your credit journey!! 👍

😊

[Anonymous]

I pull one of my "real" credit reports once every four months. That way I have the complete picture not just once a year. Also, up until a couple of weeks ago, I was given a free daily Experian CR for three years because of some lawsuit. I also utilize all of the other free CR from the online sites. Except for SP, I do not find a difference between free CR from free sites and my free annual reports. If there is, I ask for someone to please let me know the difference. I have also recently received my free CR from the smaller CRA. I have never paid for a CR even the $1 trial offers. IMO, there is no need to do so. Plus, if turned down for credit, you are entitled to another free CR.

[Brooklyn2018]

I understand that there sometimes isn’t a need to constantly pull your reports all the time, as these free sites do have good info that does match(to a degree) our reports. I meant, for the the first time ever. To get a clear understanding of info that some/most free sites don’t give, for example; DoFD, All previous address, alias names, etc. Some of that information is vital and requires attention, IMO.
For First Timers? It’s IMPORTANT they pull’em and we should stress that to them and stop relying ONLY on those free sites to get their credit picture. It’s a great tool for when they completely understand what they’ve learned so, they’ll be better educated when they receive an alert. Then, they’ll KNOW exactly what it’s for and why.
But, your 3x’s a year is smart! 👍 But, that’s the benefit of knowing your real credit reports first and utilizing those free tools to give you and idea of what your credit behavior is doing, by those free alerts. But, I like your 3x’s a year deal! 😉 I will implement that system next year and years to come, Thanks!👍

😊

[Anonymous]

You are absolutely correct for first timers that they should pull their full annual credit report. Plus, its kind of interesting to see it for the first time.