topic Re: Help me decide... in Credit Cards

Help me decide...

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:38:55 GMT

Hey guys, long time lurker here. Finally decided to create an account and join in on the discussion.

Anyway, here's the skinny on me: I'm in college (can you guess which one? ) and I'm looking to get a nice rewards credit card. I negotiated a PFD with a collections company not too long ago, so I'm waiting for that to go through before I bother applying for anything...long story short, an old apartment complex charged me bogus fees when I moved out, I never paid them, then it got sent to collections....the whole $150. I thought since it was so small they'd forget about it but apparently not. But as of right now I have 3 CC's, all opened within the last 4 months or so (which I realize may hurt my chances):

Cap1 Platinum Mastercard w/ $300 CL

Cap1 MTV Platinum Visa w/ $300 CL

Florida State University CU Student Mastercard w/ $500 CL

I actually got approved for the Visa with the collections on my report...I was actually surprised. But anyway, so the Visa is the only one with any sort of rewards...it's a measly 1 point for most of my purchases, and the other two don't have squat for rewards.

I was stupid and applied for WAY too many CC's, even with the collections, and the primary -and oftentimes only reason- was the collections on my file. Citi Forward, Discover Student and Wells Fargo Student all cited the collections as the main/only reason for denial. So assuming the collections gets deleted, I was going to either call and get a recon or reapply. The last I heard my FICO was 610, and I'm wondering how much it may go up after the collections gets taken off? Anyway, here's where you guys come in: which one should I really go for?

I was considering the Discover or one of the Citi cards; either Forward, mtvU or Dividend Platinum (all student cards). I don't want nor can I afford much more inquiries so I wanted to see which one you guys recommend before I go applying for all of them. I spend most of my money on groceries and fast food joints, not so much on gas because my parents pay for most of that, but just the normal college kid stuff.

Does anyone have experience with any of these cards? Suggestions?

Re: Help me decide...

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:22:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey guys, long time lurker here. Finally decided to create an account and join in on the discussion.

Anyway, here's the skinny on me: I'm in college (can you guess which one? ) and I'm looking to get a nice rewards credit card. I negotiated a PFD with a collections company not too long ago, so I'm waiting for that to go through before I bother applying for anything...long story short, an old apartment complex charged me bogus fees when I moved out, I never paid them, then it got sent to collections....the whole $150. I thought since it was so small they'd forget about it but apparently not. But as of right now I have 3 CC's, all opened within the last 4 months or so (which I realize may hurt my chances):

Cap1 Platinum Mastercard w/ $300 CL
Cap1 MTV Platinum Visa w/ $300 CL
Florida State University CU Student Mastercard w/ $500 CL

I actually got approved for the Visa with the collections on my report...I was actually surprised. But anyway, so the Visa is the only one with any sort of rewards...it's a measly 1 point for most of my purchases, and the other two don't have squat for rewards.

I was stupid and applied for WAY too many CC's, even with the collections, and the primary -and oftentimes only reason- was the collections on my file. Citi Forward, Discover Student and Wells Fargo Student all cited the collections as the main/only reason for denial. So assuming the collections gets deleted, I was going to either call and get a recon or reapply. The last I heard my FICO was 610, and I'm wondering how much it may go up after the collections gets taken off? Anyway, here's where you guys come in: which one should I really go for?

I was considering the Discover or one of the Citi cards; either Forward, mtvU or Dividend Platinum (all student cards). I don't want nor can I afford much more inquiries so I wanted to see which one you guys recommend before I go applying for all of them. I spend most of my money on groceries and fast food joints, not so much on gas because my parents pay for most of that, but just the normal college kid stuff.

Does anyone have experience with any of these cards? Suggestions?

Since you opened 3 new accounts within the past four months or so and it sounds like you probably have more inquries than that, I'd wait until your AAoA is at least a year before you try for any more cards. That should give time for your score to recover as well and give you a much better chance at getting approved. At that point, I'd go for Citi (Forward probably) rather than Discover.

Re: Help me decide...

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:14:13 GMT

+1. Remember to only apply for CCs when you need them. In my opinion, rewards cards are overated at times, unless you are spending big bucks. Let the other three cards mature and this way after a year or so, you would have positive history (given you pay on time and don't have a high utilization). The year mark will also have an impact on your inqs, as they will no longer be factored into your FICO.

Re: Help me decide...

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 03:40:02 GMT

yeah I figured you guys would say to wait

I just get so antsy and impatient....I'm a very impatient person by nature, in all aspects of life. I seriously doubt I'll be able to wait a year or anywhere close to it. A few months is more realistic, then the credit bug will bite me and I'll have to apply for something. I'm going to try and call the backdoor number(s) and see if I can get a recon without another hard pull. I know the Citi letter said that if there was an error to send and updated CR to them and they'll look it over. I'll keep you guys posted.

I want a rewards card because I use the crap out of my cards, but I pay them off in full every month. So I'd really like something back for using all that credit if I can...if I'm using a CC anyway, why not one that gives me sometihng back? I know CLI's come with time, but these $300 limits are a joke; I spend almost that much at Walmart on grocereis.

This is kinda off topic, but anyone have a guestimate of how much my score will go up when this gets taken off? I have nothing bad on my CR other than the collections and a crap load of pulls.