Not sure on which section I should post this, mod can move it wherever this post is appropriate.
So, 'in the name of science' lol, app spree in a week, apped for 4 cards(waited for like 4 EX inqs, about 1 each for other 2 bureaus to fall off-1yr-mid month before apping on the 19th, first 3 in about 2 days, PenFed 2 days ago in the evening)
WF Bilt approved 2500
Barclays Hawaiian Airline denied
Citi AA MileUp(preapproved mailer with fixed APR, recently got a 2nd one) approved 7300
PenFed PCR approved 2000
Pretty much all were surprising and somewhat unexpected.
I actually feared for the WF app the most since WF dings EX, which is by far the WORST with app # and hence? score, just look at my sig lol. Pretty much ALL apps before dinged EX; EQ and TU few. But thankfully they approved me.
Barclays, was warned it would be an instant denial last April. Scoured posts here lol. One thing which had going for me was few inqs on TU. Actually had hope for this one since I got a fixed APR Wyndham mailer some months ago. But got denied.
Citi AA, as an alternative to Barclays. Fixed APR and got a 2nd mailer so thought I had good chance, but Citi also dings EX and just apped for WF(like 2 days before?). But did NOT expect the generous SL! Interestingly no ding on EX this time? Other 3 were instantly reported.
PenFed I thought it was a shoo-in, many encouraging approvals here with 7500 SLs. EQ, easily my best with least inqs, albeit TU one is the highest score. So was disappointed with a low SL, 2000. I first got 2000 with Citi Best Buy store card and Synchrony Amazon store card October last year, and then Cap1 Savor One in January, 9 months ago.
So the lesson is, I just apped too often lol, and got too many cards in a short period of time, less than 2 years into my credit journey(Got my first CC April last year, secured Cap1 Platinum which I closed recently)! Many advised me to garden hard in April, preferably a year to 2 years, and I did manage to garden for 8 months, maybe that's why this time my app spree produced good results, 3/4(before that my batting average was atrocious to say the least, October last year and January this year lol).
But not SLs, except for Citi AA MileUp(my 3rd card with Citi, did that help. Cap1 the same too, secured 500, then Savor One 2000). My excuse is that I couldn't wait for those cards lol, rent(Bilt) and airfare to Korea(Barclays/AA). PenFed, well.....lol, I did need a new checking account, and who can blame me taking advantage of it 
So naturally should garden hard if I'm serious about getting higher SLs, really hope next SL will be at least 5k(the exceptions for me are Citi CC and Rewards+ which are mostly tailored to small purchases methinks. So don't mind small SLs and in fact could just PC my existing Citi ones). For emergency purposes ideally everybody should get 10k imo(car accident, or medical, etc.). But could I garden that long? About 8 EX inqs fall off mid January lol, and I need that 5% cb for IW tennis tournament next March(I spend more than $250 on tickets for about 5 days: Savor One was a big fail in that regard, they didn't code it as entertainment. Shouldn't have apped 
Not too enamored of Cap 1, not having chat option unlike Disco, no secure message like Chase and PenFed)! But eh, we'll see?
My TU score jumped to 750 my highest just now, weird? When my TU app failed 
Congrats on your app spree! Nice pickups 🤑👍👍
@Anonymous @Congratulations that was fun to read.
Your saga makes me laugh and cry. 11 cards in 18 months, and I'm agonizing over a 3rd card in 20 months with one deny already....
Life is not fair 
@uncredited wrote:Your saga makes me laugh and cry. 11 cards in 18 months, and I'm agonizing over a 3rd card in 20 months with one deny already....
Life is not fair
Hey my EX inqs # is like 26. Guess how many apps failed Lesson learned! Joined Myfico too late 😭
@Anonymous wrote:
@uncredited wrote:Your saga makes me laugh and cry. 11 cards in 18 months, and I'm agonizing over a 3rd card in 20 months with one deny already....
Life is not fair
Hey my EX inqs # is like 26. Guess how many apps failed
You should have spent more time in my 500 post 6 month long threads deciding what to apply for and when. My idea of aggressively persuing credit is your idea of "gardening"
@uncredited wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@uncredited wrote:Your saga makes me laugh and cry. 11 cards in 18 months, and I'm agonizing over a 3rd card in 20 months with one deny already....
Life is not fair
Hey my EX inqs # is like 26. Guess how many apps failed
You should have spent more time in my 500 post 6 month long threads deciding what to apply for and when. My idea of aggressively persuing credit is your idea of "gardening"
Hey I did read your megathread, by now I've given up, can't follow the Proustian discourse
I would've just apped already if I were you lol, but better than me mindlessly apping! I regret pretty much all apps last year except for Citi. Savor One this year too. I would've stayed clear of Cap 1 and Chase and apped Disco, Amex and Boa first, which can grow fast. I actually admire members who have like 4 cards and all with more than 20k CLs! Especially with a low income like me, less is better!
And I did garden for 8 months! 😁 Can't 'promise' that long next time though 😂
@BronzeTrader wrote:It is good results for the situation.
I think for the BILT, they really want to broaden the cardholder base. So it is relatively easy to open the card, but hard to get a high CL. I've seen so many people getting like $2,000 or $3,000 CL. For people who pay high rent, that is just not enough. Also, Wells Fargo like to put a long holding period for payment verification.
I'm not a fan of application spree. I like quality than quantify.
Huh so Bilt is like Autograph, I've seen guys here with scores of 800 get 3000 or something for that card. My rent is about 600 lol, so SL-wise for that purpose, not bad.
Agree about quality, but couldn't wait any longer to pay for rent and airfare!
@Anonymous wrote:
@BronzeTrader wrote:It is good results for the situation.
I think for the BILT, they really want to broaden the cardholder base. So it is relatively easy to open the card, but hard to get a high CL. I've seen so many people getting like $2,000 or $3,000 CL. For people who pay high rent, that is just not enough. Also, Wells Fargo like to put a long holding period for payment verification.
I'm not a fan of application spree. I like quality than quantify.
Huh so Bilt is like Autograph, I've seen guys here with socres of 800 get 3000 or something for that card. My rent is about 600 lol, so SL-wise for that purpose, not bad.
Agree about quality, but couldn't wait any longer to pay for rent and airfare!
Quality is not sacrificed in a spree that is only caused by poor card choice, saving up several cards to get together is healthy for your report. Yes you take a big ding at the same time, but constant 1-2 cards every 3-6 months keeps you in permanent "seeking credit" and "new account" negative reason codes and score card changes doing it all at once and then allowing those scoring segmentation factors to fall off and the negative reason codes as well helps you out down the road.
I also am a serial apper coming up on 24 months in Jan, I have 10 credit cards, 2 loans 1 CFA (ex only before I knew) getting lots of cards to age together and getting them early gives you a good backstop to apply against later the more data points you have the less each one affects your profile. I never would have believed I would have a 770+ credit score in just 18-20 months.
Though I am now in a gardening phase my velocity is too high with "only" 4 credit cards and an auto refi this year.
