Hello, and welcome to the forums!
Congratulations on the Freedom and Zync -- wonderful approvals! You have a nice set of cards to garden, and with good care they should grow with you.
I'll let others chime in on your specific questions. But, I will offer an opinion on the Cap1. It appears that you just got it (02/12). So, since you've already taken the inqs and paid the AF, you might as well get a year of positive reporting out of it. You may want to put a small recurring bill on it and set it up for autopay. That way, it will have a job to do and you'll develop it as a positive trade line. Since it's in the CS program, you should get a small CLI in a few months. But, it won't grow much, if at all, beyond that. So, when the AF comes due again, you may want to close it, as it wil have finished serving its purpose.
Once again, congrats and enjoy your new cards! 
Hello back welcome... 1. as far as a hard pull or soft pull YMMV 2. Use card and keep utiliztion below 9% pay in full then at end of year see if they will turn it into another card with them that better if not bye bye. 3. As far as any cc company or credit union surely they saw the inquires and assumed the tradelines will follow they ar ejust being cautious. Now for the real advice you got two great cards dont app anymore garden your portfolio work on any baddies /lates you have on credit reports with GW letters stay under 9% utilization( dont forget even if you pay in full find out when statement cuts as many cc comapanies report the balance at time when they report) not actual monthly balance. in 5 months try to hit luv buttons for credit increases on current cc or cal customer service to up limits. let some of the inq fall off will be a year before they stop affecting score two years before they fall off. Lastly pat yourself on back so far so good.
Starting Score: 0
@Anonymous wrote:Hello! I've been lurking here for a few months, and I think it's finally time to introduce myself and ask for some advice. First, though, I just wanted to thank you all... I've been looking for ways to improve my credit and found this forum incredibly informative!
Some background information... until recently, I haven't managed my credit very responsibly. Fortunately, I was saved by the fact that my limits were so low I couldn't get myself into too much trouble. I had a collections from 2008 that was just removed from Equifax and TransUnion, and although I'm still waiting to officially hear back from Experian, I think they have removed it as well. Besides that, I have one 60 day late on my Citi card from 6/09. The rest of my history is clean, and I just paid off my two older cards that I'd been carrying a balance on for quite awhile. Game plan now is to buy what I can afford and PIF every month.
My oldest credit card is my Citi student card that I opened shortly after I turned 18. I also have a store card through GECRB (I'm being deliberately vague because I work for this company... rather not take chances). Capital One finally sent me an offer for a no AF card, so I opened that (before I realized it would be possible to get the collections off my record), and I opened the Walmart card for the free FICO.
Fast forward to today... I just found out about the collections being removed, and although I tried really hard to wait before apping for better cards, I just couldn't do it. I was VERY surprised to be approved for a Chase Freedom and Amex Zync, but I'm excited to finally have some prime cards!
These are my most recent March scores, but they're from before the collections was removed:
EX 637 (PSECU)
EQ 663 (Equifax)
TU 670 (Walmart)
And these are the cards and limits I now have:
9/08 - Citi Platinum Select Student ($580)
2/10 - GECRB Store Card ($700)
2/12 - Capital One Platinum ($300)
2/12 - Walmart Card ($600)
3/12 - Chase Freedom ($2000)
3/12 - American Express Zync (NPSL)
Obviously I'm now headed into the garden since I think four cards in two months is quite enough for me.
Now onto the questions:
1. I requested a CLI from Citi, but was denied. However, the denial stated the score and report they were using was from January. Is it worth calling them and asking them to pull a new report? I'm assuming it wasn't a HP since the report they used was two months old. If I call them, will it absolutely be a HP? More than likely yes.
2. What should I do with the Capital One card? It's enrolled in Credit Steps, so I was planning on keeping it and using it once a month just to get the CLI. After all, there's no AF and I've already taken the inquiry. Eventually, though, it's going to stagnate, so is it really worth keeping a card around that I don't want, won't use, and won't grow? SD it. You've took the INQ hit, why close the account?
3. I applied for a PSECU Visa last month, but was denied. I got the reasons I expected... low FICO score, adverse accounts (the collection and late), short history. Should I call them and ask them to look at a new report and reconsider? Is it possible they would only SP me? I don't need this card, so I don't really want another HP. On the other hand, I've started using my PSECU checking as my primary account and I'd like to further build my relationship with them. It will be a HP. I wouldn't recommend touching PSECU until your EX FICO is around 700.
4. Related to the above, another reason for my denial was that my current loan balances are too high compared to the initial balances. This is also listed as something that's hurting my score whenever I look at my FICO. The only loans I have are student loans. I have about $30k, and they are in deferment. They did briefly enter repayment when I took time off, and I paid them all on time. I didn't make interest payments during the first period of deferment though, and the interest was capitalized and added the the principal, so the balances on my unsubsidized and private loans are now higher than they were in the beginning. Does anyone know how much this really factors into a lender's decision? Since I was just approved for the Freedom and Zync it clearly isn't enough for a denial on its own. PSECU listed it though, so is it just something they tacked onto the list, or is this a big deal to them? Creditors access risk in different ways. I would think it's minor since they are in deferment but PSECU may be looking at the long haul and that they will be coming out of deferment and you're 30K in debt.
I really wasn't expecting this to be so long, but I wanted to get everything down. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this, and thanks in advance for any insight you can give!
Welcome to the forums!!!
