Applying for Second Credit Card as a Student

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Here is my situation. I'm a current college student who is getting ready to graduate in one year and I'm looking for a second credit card to better my credit score. I currently have a Discover student card that I've had since 2011. I've never had any issues with late payments nor do I currently hold any loans. I'm also have a recurring internship every other semester which provides a steady income while I'm in school. The lack of payable accounts and loans is what I believe limiting my credit score, which has been around 740-755 since I began monitoring it. 

Since Discover provides your FICO score by the means of a soft inquiry, I have been monitoring my credit score pretty consistently now. It is currently at 755, but about month ago that it dropped to 733, which I presumed was due to my employer conducting a credit check right after I requested a credit limit increase on my Discover card. 

My question to you all is if this is a good time to apply for a second credit card or should I wait so that my credit history is littered by numerous hard inquiries in such a short time. If it is a good time, then does anybody have any insight on the Bank of America Better Balance Rewards CC?. Since I already have a BoA checking account, I will receive up to $120 bonus back per year by applying for this. 

Sorry for the long post. Any insight would be appreciated!

[cobbson]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all,

Here is my situation. I'm a current college student who is getting ready to graduate in one year and I'm looking for a second credit card to better my credit score. I currently have a Discover student card that I've had since 2011. I've never had any issues with late payments nor do I currently hold any loans. I'm also have a recurring internship every other semester which provides a steady income while I'm in school. The lack of payable accounts and loans is what I believe limiting my credit score, which has been around 740-755 since I began monitoring it. 

Since Discover provides your FICO score by the means of a soft inquiry, I have been monitoring my credit score pretty consistently now. It is currently at 755, but about month ago that it dropped to 733, which I presumed was due to my employer conducting a credit check right after I requested a credit limit increase on my Discover card. 

My question to you all is if this is a good time to apply for a second credit card or should I wait so that my credit history is littered by numerous hard inquiries in such a short time. If it is a good time, then does anybody have any insight on the Bank of America Better Balance Rewards CC?. Since I already have a BoA checking account, I will receive up to $120 bonus back per year by applying for this. 

Sorry for the long post. Any insight would be appreciated!

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Employer credit pulls are usually soft pulls, so I don't think that is what dropped your FICO TU score reported by Discover. The drop may have been caused by a HP by discover on you CLI request, but I don't know Discover's policy on CLI increase requests. You may want to pull your TU report to see what is going on.

Just from the info provided, I think now could be a perfect time to app for a 2nd card. Nice score and a near virgin CR with 3 years history.

[Longroad]

You should be good for another. Both of my sons are  college students and have received good limits on cards through Citi and BOA with the best limits on their Sallie Mae cards. Good luck with whatever you decide OP

[Creditaddict]

I would get 2 more, I'd do BofA and American Express either blue cash or the new everyday

[Kenny]

I agree. Amex and Sallie Mae would be my two choices if I were to start again. But I made a good choice and got my Amex pretty early... gotta love the backdating of all new cards with them.

[Creditaddict]

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@KennyRS wrote:
I agree. Amex and Sallie Mae would be my two choices if I were to start again. But I made a good choice and got my Amex pretty early... gotta love the backdating of all new cards with them.

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i like these 2 then the BofA butifyou want that card because you bank with them then you should apply for all 3 and you might be surprised how quickly your score actually goes up from where it is now with a few more cards

[Anonymous]

May I ask what the benefits are for American Express and Sallie Mae CCs over BoA, Chase CCs etc.?

[Kenny]

It's just good to start your member since date as early as is possible due to the fact that any subsequent credit cards opened through Centurion Bank aka AMEX will be backdated to 2014. Which will be very helpful for your when it's 2042 and you're apping for the new Titanium chip that's fit for your eyeglasses or something. LOL What a world that would be. Odd.

Anyways, seriously. lol The reason I offered up the Sallie Mae is that it's an excellent cash back card in the way that you get 5% cashback on the first 250 dollars in groceries also gas and the first 750 dollars of bookstore purchases. (These bookstore purchases include Amazon.com!) After the initial 5% the card then kicks over to a 1% CB on the remaining amount of money spent in that category each month! It's a pretty excellent card for low spenders.

[heyarrnold]

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@Anonymous wrote:

May I ask what the benefits are for American Express and Sallie Mae CCs over BoA, Chase CCs etc.?

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Definitely get an Amex. I assume we are the same age 21? Well, that is with my assumption that you're still an undergrad. 

However, I would get an Amex for backdating purposes and MR points. Their CS is also great! I would apply to their Everyday card. It's on my wish list for Jan of 2015

And Sallie Mae is another great choice if you are single and do not spend too much on gas and groceries. 

Chase is also another great choice. UR points, a variety of cards with great rewards, and so far their CS has been exceptional to me!

[Anonymous]

One or two inquiries are not a problem, and if you get declined with the excuse of one or two inquiries then you probably would have gotten denied without them (and I'm sure you would have a high success rate at reconsideration if you called and questioned the denial). With that aside, you should apply for another credit card as soon as your are comfortable. American Express is good to get in early with for the backdating purposes, and they usually start of at a healthy limit that can be tripled in 3 months. I would recommend those without an annual fee unless you believe the benefits outweigh the cost. Other than that I would be tenative about Bank of America, in my experience they did not grow with me, but that could be entirely different for you.