Hello, I'm new to the forum first time posting, but a long time lurker. Hoping to get recommendations from some of you veterans all for a zero intro APR card with the best rewards that I might have excellent approval odds for.
Basically, my story is that I have okay credit at this point, but I just graduated medical school so I have a massive amount of student debt (almost $700k), and $11k for my auto loan. I can declare income of 90k. I have a year until I can start residency and have a number of large expenses coming up for my applications and such (maybe 7k+), so would like to have a card with 0% APR and a nice sign-up bonus. Ideally, I would like to get a VISA card as I don't have one yet, but open to other options as well as even in my research I don't see a great number of options for my situation. Would prefer to apply for cards I have decent chance at getting so I don't increase the # of pulls on my accounts as I already have 3 TU inquiries from department of education for my student loans. Overall goals would like to get the Chase Sapphire card eventually, but I'm skeptical I can do that at this point with my debt-to-income ratio. Long-term goal of course is to have my credit set up to by a home sooner rather than later.
Scores:
Fico 8: EX 777, EQ 777, TU 770
EX fico 2: 762
Ex fico 3: 721
TU Vantage 3.0: 665
Inquires: EX 0, EQ 0, TU 3
AAoA: 7yrs. AoOA: 16 years
At this time I have no BKs, no late fees or baddies.
Cards I own
-Discover it opened in 2020 [$24k limit, 2% utilization, I have been spending 4-6K on this card and paying it off monthly]
-Capital One Venture opened in 2016 [$4.3k limit, 13% utilization reported, I also pay this card off monthly, but beyond a few fixed bills rarely use due to low limit]
-Authorized User on sister's Chase Sapphire Preferred opened 2015 [$16k limit, 70% utilization...I am not really sure how this factors in to my credit score overall or chances of getting my own card]
Overall with sister's card that puts my utilization at 30% (38% on TU because for some reason it reports my sister's card as 91)
Cards I am Considering:
- Amex Blue Cash or Express Everyday [I did do pre-qual on the Amex website and got offer for the Platinum with 175k bonus points, as well as the Blue, so this seems like a decent option for me]
-Chase Freedom Unlimited [I was thinking this could be good so I have a better chance at chase sapphire later?]
-Capital One Quicksilver [I've got a number of pre-approved offers to my email from capital one]
-BOA customized cash rewards [got a pre-selected letter in the mail]
-Your recommendations here!
Sorry for the long post but wanted to be thorough! Overall I guess I am nervous I'll be applying to cards and get a bunch of pulls on my credit that will make it more difficult. Let me know what you guys think or ways I can improve my chances of getting a good card (beyond yes paying down my ghastly amount of loans). Appreciate your input 
Bonus question: What's your goal credit card and why?
Your scores are good enough for pretty much any card you'd want and lenders don't seem to mind student loans all that much compared to other debts, though maybe that much might make some of them shy. The cards you are considering are all pretty solid too. Since you want the Sapphire card in the future, personally I'd try for the Chase Freedom Unlimited. They complement each other anyway and most of your application expenses will probably be non-category spend, so something like the Freedom Flex with its rotating categories probably won't be as good for you right now.
Be sure to read the fine print on those Capital One pre-approvals. They have multiple tiers for their cards and will sometimes give out "for good credit" pre-approvals without a signup bonus or 0% intro period. Conversely, Amex preapprovals are about as solid as you can get.
I'm at the end of fellowship myself so my unsolicited advice is to please look into the SAVE plan for your federal student loans and also read up on at least the student loan posts at the WhiteCoatInvestor blog. Good luck!
Bonus answer: My goal credit cards keep on changing cause I keep on applying for them. I very recently got a couple goal cards - Amex Platinum and BoA Customized Cash. The BoA card I'll almost certainly keep long-term, but I'm uncertain about the fate of the Amex. My next goal card is probably the US Bank Altitude Reserve for the 3x mobile wallet category. That won't be for a while though, since the sign-up bonus on the Amex will take a while to get through.
Wells Fargo active cash visa signature and their autograph visa offer 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 15 and 21 month respectively.
the active cash earns unlimited 2% cash back on purchases
On a side note 🎵
I feel like this should be moved to Credit Cards
Congratulations on finishing off your fellowship, I bow down to you, really hoping I can hold out to finish up mine too but these delays feel so painful while this poor haha. I'm super glad you chose to give your two cents, since it seems like you've been right in there with me. That experience is invaluable.
Thats sort of what I was thinking for the Chase Freedom Unlimited as well. I also figured maybe I'd be spending enought to get TWO cards for the sign up bonus and split up the spending to maximize returns when possible. I'll definitely comb through the capital one pre-approval - thanks for the tip!
Personally I've learned that unsolicited advice is a great gift - I can always choose if I want to follow it ha - so much appreciated. Funny enough I just applied for the SAVE plan today, so I'm happy to have your opinion behind that decision. Never heard of the whatcoatinvestor blog, will definitely have to check that out.
I'm so with you on that Amex platnium, super tempted to pull the trigger on that one because I have a lot of travel this year and it would be great for that - but the cost is ugh. Really appreciate you taking the time to give me your input. Best of luck to you in finishing up the fellowship and hitting your credit card goals
I'm thinking Chase Freedom Unlimited for you.
@Inearnest I would say start by removing yourself off your sisters card you would be in 800s and the history will still remain on your credit. Also i think the WF Active Cash would be probably the best option but I would also check your offers if your getting preapproved offers they could be different than whats on line.
Ah, I wasn't sure how much that utlization would change things. My score actually significantly increased when the card was added to my account a few years go, but I've gotten rid of a few student loan baddies since then and increased my own credit profile. I was nervous to remove her card before I did my application incase my score dropped. Normally her utlization isn't that high but she just had a wedding and honeymoon.
I'm still pretty unclear about how her card affects my credit - so you say the history will stay and bolster my credit application if I remove it?
Thanks so much for your help