I'm in a similar situation on a similar timeline. Hearing about @delayedsol graduating so quickly is encouraging. It would be great to have the card unsecure at the end of the year.
Yea so I definitely had no idea I could PC to the 5% version of the card after I graduated last October. Went almost an entire year until I start noticing people on here talking about 5% categories and I'm like "**bleep**, I didn't know the discover card had rewards like that". Only after going online and seeing the "change rewards structure" link or whatever it says did I realize I could do it. Lost out on a year 
But yes, as someone else said, you don't even have to call or talk to someone, can do it all right online!
I didn't know that either. Learned this the hard way: don't ask for product change the day your statement cuts, because the product change won't go into effect until the next statement. So I gotta wait till October 18th now to start earning the 5%
@Gigantoraptor wrote:Graduated after 6 months? That's great! I got mine in June, first statement cut in July. I'm hoping I'll graduate in February, as that'll be my 8th statement but I've paid off all of my personal charge offs and I've been using this card heavily. If you graduated at 6 months that gives me hope I can get my deposit back sooner.
It'll probably happen. 
I'm sure each situation is different, but I've got a few negatives still on my report (fully paid chargeoff, fully paid collection, one open collection that's past SOL and falls off in a few more months). My scores are still suppressed, but thankfully it didn't stop them from graduating me. Used the card regularly, paid it off before the statement cut every month except for once when I let it report a small balance.
Only 12 more months to go on my Citi Secured. They don't even start the review process until 18 months after you open the card 😰
