Hello everyone,
I've been browsing the forums for a while, finding a bunch of useful information about credit in general (thanks!), but this is my first time posting.
I'm new to credit--I've gotten my first CC in 08/2011, it's a Capital One Platinum MC with a CL of $500 with an expected Credit Steps CLI to $750 in a couple of statements. Currently, that's the only LOC I have, and, as far as I understand, I have to wait for a couple of more months to even get a FICO rating. I pulled my own free report from EQ recently and I've got three hard inqs: one from COne from 08/2011 and two from 03/2011 (when I tried to apply for a CC from the bank I have a checking account with & from when I tried to apply for the GECRB Amazoncard, both denied).
Right now my util is fairly high, but I always PIF and I'm planning on bringing it down to no more than 20% starting with this cycle.
I'm currently thinking ahead and trying to figure our where to go next. My long term goal is to keep the number of my cards low--I'd like to have one each of MC, Visa, AmEx, & maybe a Discover, so I'm looking for your recommendations on what to get next and, more importantly, when?
I've been browsing around and the cards I like are Citi Forward and Chase Freedom in the VIsa category, and BCE and Blue in the AmEx category. I haven't really thought about Discover much at this point.
My questions are: which one of the cards above would be easiest to get? And how long do you recommend me waiting before applying for it? (I like to think that patience is one of my virtues. 
) Any other helpful comments are more than welcome!
Welcome to the forums!
The Chase Freedom and the Citi Forward are probably a better shot than the AmEx but I'm not sure how much account history they want to see before they approve you. Obviously you need a score reporting so as soon as 6 months are up you might have a shot. Maybe someone can pipe in here with AAoA required. They are both good cards, but hace differences. The Freedom only gives you decent rewards in rotating categories every quarter. The Forward gives you 5x points in certain permanent categories but 1 point is not always 1%. You'll have to evaluate what matches your spending habits.
The Blue Cash is gonna take at least 2 years of history from what I understand.
I like your strategy of 1 of each network, that is what I have done. You might also consider a B of A card, they have a few different levels ie basic, platinum, signature. They have been known to upgrade you to a better product after a while but YMMV. Same with USAA.
Good luck, let us know what you figure out.
Starting Score: 690
Ok, here's an update on my progress.
I recently got approved for a Kohl's card with a $300 limit (I do most of my pant/shirt shopping there so I figured that I might as well be getting all the discounts), which, according to the myFico Equifax report, hasn't started reporting yet.
Since six months has passed since I got my Cap One (my first card), and I really wanted a rewards card to funnel my purchases through & myFico Score Watch estimated that waiting for the Kohl's card to show up could make my score go up to 10 points either up or down (it's at 697 as it is), and my util would rise a bit due to recent purchases on my Cap One (it should report in a couple of days); I decided to go ahead and try for either Chase Freedom or Discover More.
Chase gave me the 7-10 days message, which got me a little bummed out (felt like a pre-denial), but... I thought "what the heck, what's done is done, let's try for Discover!" And it worked! Got instant approved for a Discover More with $1000 CL, which is my biggest one so far, and quite good enough--with the money I make as a grad student, I really shouldn't be spending more than that (plus rent) anyway. 
So, I'm pretty satisfied with the overall outcome.
P.S. Oh, and I had tried for a Walmart store card, but I couldn't even app without a (US) driver's licence.
P.S. 2: It doesn't seem Cap One HPed EQ for the Kohl's card. Might have something to do with the fact that I already have a MC with them?
EDIT: Found out that Kohl's pulled EX.