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Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase

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Anonymous
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Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase

Hello!

I would super appreciate some advice on which credit card to apply for Smiley Happy.

 

To give some history, I am currently in my 4th year of medical school so I have a lot of student loans. I wanted to apply for another credit card to help me out a little bit since I will be traveling a lot pretty soon to interviews for residency. I was looking at cards that offer a nice bonus and decided to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Oooops. I was denied as they stated that my loans showed up on my credit report as a monthly obligation, which is false since they're all in deferment. So that was my mistake for not reading online that they're very picky. I've been eyeing Capital One Venture, but I read online that they're also pretty picky and I don't want another hard inquiry from a denial Smiley Sad. Then I came upon BoA Premium Rewards, but I've read that they prefer people with a BoA bank account.

 

My current credit cards: AmEx Blue Cash Preferred and Citi TYP

Experian FICO: 772 | Equifax FICO: 799 (got this one from Citi) | Transunion Vantage: 730

Total credit limit: 11k

Credit utilization: Under 10%

Average account age: 5 years | Oldest account: 10 years

Inquiries: 2 on Experian and TU, 1 on Equifax

 

Advice please? Smiley Happy Thank ye kindly!

Message 1 of 24
23 REPLIES 23
Hut1
Established Contributor

Re: Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase


@Anonymous wrote:

Hello!

I would super appreciate some advice on which credit card to apply for Smiley Happy.

 

To give some history, I am currently in my 4th year of medical school so I have a lot of student loans. I wanted to apply for another credit card to help me out a little bit since I will be traveling a lot pretty soon to interviews for residency. I was looking at cards that offer a nice bonus and decided to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Oooops. I was denied as they stated that my loans showed up on my credit report as a monthly obligation, which is false since they're all in deferment. So that was my mistake for not reading online that they're very picky. I've been eyeing Capital One Venture, but I read online that they're also pretty picky and I don't want another hard inquiry from a denial Smiley Sad. Then I came upon BoA Premium Rewards, but I've read that they prefer people with a BoA bank account.

 

My current credit cards: AmEx Blue Cash Preferred and Citi TYP

Experian FICO: 772 | Equifax FICO: 799 (got this one from Citi) | Transunion Vantage: 730

Total credit limit: 11k

Credit utilization: Under 10%

Average account age: 5 years | Oldest account: 10 years

Inquiries: 2 on Experian and TU, 1 on Equifax

 

Advice please? Smiley Happy Thank ye kindly!


Have you tried a prequal for Discover Miles yet? Cap1 also has a prequal check. They're not exact, but they'll give you a good idea on where you stand. 

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Message 2 of 24
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase

I'd just like to second that Chase hates my student loans as well. I have a good chunk remaining from law school and that was the first thing they cited in my denial a while back. They are paid monthly and I've never missed a payment.

Have you considered Amex? I love my Gold. Only caveat is, it works with my spend and my travel plans. My advice with Amex is to always make sure it works with your travel plans since MR lose value a ton if they don't fit into your particular travel.
Message 3 of 24
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase

@Hut1: I tried the capital one prequalifier earlier but it told me that they didn't have any offers for me and asked if I had opted out. Which when I looked at my Equifax credit report afterwards, it said that I actually did opt out LOOL. Oops. I have now opted back in, but I read that it takes upwards of 5 days to process? Does the discover one have a nice sign up bonus?

 

@Lucienbel: Omg that sounds so frustrating. I have an AmEx blue cash preferred, but would I be eligible for a sign up bonus if I already have an AmEx card? I've had this one for 5 years now I think?

 

I guess I'm just trying to find a credit card that I would for sure get approved for despite all my student loans with the best sign up bonus. I really want a bonus in order to help offset the cost of all the flights I'll have to book Smiley Embarassed

Message 4 of 24
LakeLife
Established Contributor

Re: Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase


@Anonymous wrote:

 

Experian FICO: 772 | Equifax FICO: 799 (got this one from Citi) | Transunion Vantage: 730

Total credit limit: 11k

Credit utilization: Under 10%

Average account age: 5 years | Oldest account: 10 years

Inquiries: 2 on Experian and TU, 1 on Equifax

 

Advice please? Smiley Happy Thank ye kindly!


Your scores look great, but keep in mind the Equifax score from Citi is a Bankcard Fico 8 and that scale goes to 900 which obviously inflates the score compared to other Fico 8 scores.  Did you try to recon via customer support?  If not, I'm curious as to why not.  It might be worth it to explain your circumstances.




Message 5 of 24
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase


@Anonymous wrote:

@Hut1: I tried the capital one prequalifier earlier but it told me that they didn't have any offers for me and asked if I had opted out. Which when I looked at my Equifax credit report afterwards, it said that I actually did opt out LOOL. Oops. I have now opted back in, but I read that it takes upwards of 5 days to process? Does the discover one have a nice sign up bonus? Disco doesn't do bonuses in the sense you see w/ other lenders.  They match your spend earnings for the first 12 months.

Miles - goes from 1.5% to 3%

IT - doubles your 1% and 5% earnings

Chrome doubles your earnings as well

 

@Lucienbel: Omg that sounds so frustrating. I have an AmEx blue cash preferred, but would I be eligible for a sign up bonus if I already have an AmEx card? I've had this one for 5 years now I think?

If it's NEW to your NAME/SSN then you should be eligible for a SUB

 

I guess I'm just trying to find a credit card that I would for sure get approved for despite all my student loans with the best sign up bonus. I really want a bonus in order to help offset the cost of all the flights I'll have to book Smiley Embarassed

Nothing is 100% until you hit submit and the card is in your hand.... even then if you're doing too much too fast you might end up with a dead card in hand like others have been posting recently.


What travel plans / partners do you plan on using? 

 

It will help narrow down the field a bit on the right cards to go for instead of throwing a handful of darts and hoping they all stick on the bullseye.

Message 6 of 24
Hut1
Established Contributor

Re: Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase


@Anonymous wrote:

@Hut1: I tried the capital one prequalifier earlier but it told me that they didn't have any offers for me and asked if I had opted out. Which when I looked at my Equifax credit report afterwards, it said that I actually did opt out LOOL. Oops. I have now opted back in, but I read that it takes upwards of 5 days to process? Does the discover one have a nice sign up bonus?

 

There's not necessarily an immediate cash SUB you can benefit from, but they have a promo running to automatically match all the Miles you've earned at the end of your first year with no limit. There's also a 0% APR for 14 mos if you qualify. I've been interested in applying, but I just got 2 cards and I need to sit my butt down somewhere. Lol.

 

*edit*  Yea! Ditto what Obscure said. I'd listen to him over me with FICO's like that. Smiley LOL

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Message 7 of 24
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase


@LakeLife wrote:

Your scores look great, but keep in mind the Equifax score from Citi is a Bankcard Fico 8 and that scale goes to 900 which obviously inflates the score compared to other Fico 8 scores.  Did you try to recon via customer support?  If not, I'm curious as to why not.  It might be worth it to explain your circumstances.


I did! That's why I know it was because of my loans. I called twice and they said that my monthly obligations were too high due to my student loans. I explained to them that I checked my credit reports myself and they say my loans are in deferment with $0 monthly payment, but they refused to budge Smiley Sad. Btw I also applied for the Freedom since I read online that if you apply to more than one card in the same day with Chase it all counts as 1 hard inquiry and I got denied ROFL

 

And thank you! That really helps me out because I was confused since through Equifax's website it shows my Vantage score as 738 but Citi said theirs was FICO. I owe my scores to this forum honestly because I spent so many hours reading through it like 5 years ago when I was just starting to build my credit.

Message 8 of 24
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase


@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@Hut1: I tried the capital one prequalifier earlier but it told me that they didn't have any offers for me and asked if I had opted out. Which when I looked at my Equifax credit report afterwards, it said that I actually did opt out LOOL. Oops. I have now opted back in, but I read that it takes upwards of 5 days to process? Does the discover one have a nice sign up bonus? Disco doesn't do bonuses in the sense you see w/ other lenders.  They match your spend earnings for the first 12 months.

Miles - goes from 1.5% to 3%

IT - doubles your 1% and 5% earnings

Chrome doubles your earnings as well

 

@Lucienbel: Omg that sounds so frustrating. I have an AmEx blue cash preferred, but would I be eligible for a sign up bonus if I already have an AmEx card? I've had this one for 5 years now I think?

If it's NEW to your NAME/SSN then you should be eligible for a SUB

 

I guess I'm just trying to find a credit card that I would for sure get approved for despite all my student loans with the best sign up bonus. I really want a bonus in order to help offset the cost of all the flights I'll have to book Smiley Embarassed

Nothing is 100% until you hit submit and the card is in your hand.... even then if you're doing too much too fast you might end up with a dead card in hand like others have been posting recently.


What travel plans / partners do you plan on using? 

 

It will help narrow down the field a bit on the right cards to go for instead of throwing a handful of darts and hoping they all stick on the bullseye.


I feel really dumb asking this, probably med student fatigue, but what do you mean by travel plans/partners? I'm planning to fly to interviews that are too far away for me to drive to. I have some AA miles, but I don't have an airline preference. Actually my preference is the cheapest one LOL. I'm planning to use airbnb for the trips where I won't have a friend's home to stay at since they're usually cheaper.

 

And thank you so much for answering my other questions!

Message 9 of 24
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Which credit card should I apply for? Looots of student loans. Denied for Chase

EQ doesn't offer a FICO directly. The only ones I'm aware of are the one you get here and the ones you get through CC's like Citi and those are enhanced.  I suppose 1 other site experian.com offers a $1 trial for 7 days that provides all 3 Fico scores.

 

2 in 1 day w/ Chase is mostly a thing of the past for awhile now.  2nd one gets killed as a duplicate automatically.  You can call though and see if they can push it through.  Alternatively you can probably snag a co-brand though if that doesn't work.  Chase these days is mostly a 1 in 30 situation excluding over 5/24 situations where you would want to head to a branch to try the odds of the pre-approvals that bypass 5/24.

 

 

Message 10 of 24
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