@Charmante That's an awful lot of information, more than I can easily digest.
That being said, my best advice is just to be patient. I'm 37. Bad use of credit trapped me for years and put me at odds with my wife, who loves me very much. But whenever we talked about money and how much I owed, things were rough. And it was my fault, which made me regret my impulsive decisions. It wasn't until recently that I got a handle on my credit and paid off $30,000 (yes) in credit debt that things turned around. And when I did that, my credit bounced. Things got better, but they didn't have to be bad to begin with.
Because I waited and was able to space out my inquiries, now I have some great cards. What's even better is all of them have auto-CLI'd. You know what? The cards I got impulsively are the ones I barely even use now (the Newegg and Amazon cards.) And I'm honestly a little ashamed of them. I feel like now I have to use them occasionally so they don't close on me, and that's being a slave to credit. Credit should work for me, not the other way around! 
All I guess I'm trying to say man is these should not be snap decisions. We've got all this stuff dangled in front of us in a consumer society. Cards and the prestige of owning them are dangled everywhere. Get off TPG. Avoid review sites. Heck, even avoid the credit card forum here for a while. Bro, being a slave to debt blows hard. There is nothing prestigious about it. Staying informed is alright, but I think this is a nasty temptation for you and I don't want to see you fall harder because a pre-qualified offer turned into a decline and a ding on your report (that happens!)
Take your time, please let your credit age without lusting after those cards you see in lights and when your credit turns around then in the future when you snag that $10k approval I can safely say we're all going to be here cheering for you. But this year it's not in the cards. You can't game your past.
Join us in the garden! It's actually a lot of fun, and I enjoy reading the forums and soaking in more information. No temptation to get new cards, either, because seeing that bar fill up at the bottom of my sig brings me more joy than another card will for now (and when you get an inquiry, you reset it) I'd suggest a year for you. Bet you could hit at least 700 with those derogs dropping. If you need help getting your credit report in shape we're here. But we can't help out when you're bouncing off the walls and have 2 or 3 stories we can't keep straight. Help us help you, my friend.
I'm heading to bed. Night forum o/
