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21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

Do you think I would qualify for more than 1 card? If so which two would I most likely qualify for and can I apply for them at the same time?

 AMEC BC and CHASE FU or CAP QS. My CL on Discover IT is 3K and I usually keep it between 1-9% utilization, I have read on forum that it should be between 1-5% utilization when reporting.

Message 11 of 57
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

I think you could easily grab two cards. If you see Chase as an option, do that one first. If you can grab a MC/Visa, the concerns about AMEX acceptance would lessen. I'd consider them for your second app.

Message 12 of 57
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

Thank you, I will look research the US Bank Visa card, I am open to any cards and would appreciate any suggestions my goal is to have at least 1 card with DIscover, AMEX, Visa, and MasterCard so I am open to any suggestions on cards and a timeframe on when to apply for them. I am sorry I am new to all of this and any advice on a time frame to apply and ask for CLI  would be greatly appreciated.

Message 13 of 57
SBR249
Established Contributor

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

I don't normally suggest this but you may also try looking into a local CU, preferably one that you may have a personal connection to or can establish a personal relationship with. Many of the more popular CUs on here and CUs in general have tighter underwriting standards so they aren't really suitable for many new to credit. However, CUs can also be more open to bending the rules to get you in the door with them if you show up and sit down to talk with them. They may be more willing to listen and give you a chance than an underwriter at a big bank. 

 

While I agree that getting a Visa or MC would certainly be safer in terms of wider acceptance, I think that in most semi-populated places in the US you shouldn't have a problem. So if you don't do all your shopping at Costco and don't travel abroad a lot, you shouldn't have a lot of difficulty using your cards. 

Message 14 of 57
simplynoir
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

It didn't even occur to me for him to app for a Visa/MC to make sure he had more options for paying; I blame that on the late night post and my distraction with the Futurama marathon.

Message 15 of 57
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

Responders, I am so new to this forum.......I have been applying to each of you that responded not even realizing that you all can see the responses. I am sorry,  I am very appreciative of each response your time and advice and wanted to acknowledge each one of you.  I am open to all cards.....My goal is to have a DISCOVER, AMEX, VISA and MC. I would appreciate any advice on a time frame for applying for cards and can I apply for more than one card at the same time? if so, how many should I apply for? If not how long should I wait. Thank you all in advance for your responses. Please don't get become frustrated with my lack of understanding the process

Message 16 of 57
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card


@HeavenOhio wrote:

I think you could easily grab two cards. If you see Chase as an option, do that one first. If you can grab a MC/Visa, the concerns about AMEX acceptance would lessen. I'd consider them for your second app.


+1 Chase always first, as they would be the most sensitive to anything new.  If you open a new account, it won't be immediately visible to anyone else that you are applying with until the account gets reported to the credit bureaus.  But due to your thin credit file, an inquiry or two will hurt you more (not a lot, don't panic!) than some of us with 60+ open/closed accounts on their files that have a lot of age to them.

 

A good goal might be two cards apped for in a short span (same day or week), but I would advise against more than that for now as the new accounts themselves will cause temporary credit score dings when first reported until they age a little bit, and it will also reduce the average age of your accounts.  As for utilization, 1 to 8.9% is generally the best scoring range, but you get other point bonuses for having a balance showing on less than 50% of your revolving cards (which is why 3 cards would be optimal since having a balance on 1 of 2 cards would not be below 50%).

 

And @HeavenOhio is absolutely correct that you would want to avoid cards that require huge starting lines. I omitted those because you said you like cash back, therefore you shouldn't really even consider the cards that really only make sense for travel like the Chase Sapphire cards and CapOne Venture.

Message 17 of 57
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

@simplynoir I missed it, too.

@Anonymous No need for apologies! You're doing just great. We're all here to help.

 

Edit: Side note... isn't everyone proud of me that I haven't talked OP into opening an Amex Platinum and Starwood Preferred Guest card yet? Smiley Embarassed

Message 18 of 57
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

I think you can apply for two cards right now. In another six months to a year, you can apply for another card or two.

 

Keep Chase in mind if you think you want one or more of their cards at some point. If you've opened five new cards in the past 24 months, that's grounds for denial.

 

I've had an AMEX card for about eight months. I can count the places that I've encountered that don't accept it on one or two hands. These include one of my insurance companies, a local haircut place (where I buy products but don't get haircuts), a couple of restaurants, and a parking garage.

Message 19 of 57
SBR249
Established Contributor

Re: 21 yr old college student needs advice on applying for additional credit card

I'd say not more than 2 new cards at a time, one of which is an AmEx. App for the reach card first maybe a Citi double cash or Paypal 2% CB from Sync or C1 QS to make sure you have a good general spend CB card. And then app for an AmEx BCE or BCP immediately after. Then garden for a year or so before trying for a 4th.

 

I'd advise staying away from Chase which I know some people had suggested merely because you want your oldest cards to be able to grow with you without a lot of effort and AmEx/Sync/C1/Citi are relatively generous and frequent with CLI and they all SP for routine requests usually. Chase from what I've seen isn't quite so generous with auto-CLI and their customer-initiated CLI requests are HP. So if you get a low limit card with Chase you'd have to either eat lots of HP or app for new cards to combine with your other Chase cards to get that limit up which will hurt your score. 

Message 20 of 57
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