Mini app-o-rama - Help?

[Swatch]

Just got denied for an unsecured B of A student card. Disappointing. I had my EQ and TU frozen because my EX seems a little better, and I read they mostly pull EX. The HP from B of A only dropped my score by one point. I think I read that B of A is sensitive to HPs so that is probably one reason for my denial. (B of A's preapproval page sucks. It showed me a card which needs a much higher credit score.)

The Wells Fargo college student card requires a pre-existing relationship in order to apply online. Getting approved there was unlikely. My Experian FICO 8 is 634 right now, and in the past, two of my EX bankcard scores were very similar to my EX FICO 8. My bankcard FICO 8 score was about 13 points higher than my FICO 8 in the past, but now it probably dropped with the B of A HP.

May apply for the State Farm student card today. I am unsure about whether to unfreeze EQ and/or TU before I apply. I think my limit will be very low if approved. It would be sad if I got denied for this one, but I kind of expect to be.

I feel that there are no other $0 annual fee cards for me to consider besides State Farm. I am unsure if I want to apply at Credit One and similar. I guess I will start looking at ones that pull only EX. I am guessing my TU and EQ are 5-10 points lower than EX, so it's not a big difference.

I'm surprised that many store cards need 640+ or 650+.

[AllZero]

Given your stated scores and recent denial, I would not recommend an app-o-rama. There could be multiple denials in your future.

You should be receiving a BoA letter in the mail. It will point out what you need to work on.

You might want to address any derogatory you have; delinquency, charge off, collection, etc. If they are updating monthly, it'll keep your scores suppressed.

[blindambition]

Good advice above. Some lenders don't like having access to certain reports, without the others. They may still SP other reports.

Correct what you can on report. Check prequal on Discover and Capital One. Cap One will HP all three reports.

[Swatch]

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@AllZero wrote:

Given your stated scores and recent denial, I would not recommend an app-o-rama. There could be multiple denials in your future.

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I think my remaining derogs are not something I can change or improve, other than letting more time pass.

My reasoning is that I'd like to get just a couple more things opened now, even though I know it will lower my score. So that in 6 months, they are slightly aged and helping my score. My AAoA and utilization are solid even if I open more new stuff because I have two that are 14 years old.

I have two other good accounts.

I expect to be unable to qualify for anything new for a while anyway because I took a car loan out.

[Anonymous]

What is depressing your scores like that? Those scores are rather low and you will get denied for whatever the reasons are that are keeping your scores down. Address those factors. If they are late payments, let a year past from the last late before you think of applying for anything.

If they are charges offs or collections you will have to deal with them. Best approach is a "pay for delete".

[Swatch]

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@blindambition wrote:

Some lenders don't like having access to certain reports, without the others. They may still SP other reports.

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Yeah I wondered if B of A would have approved if I hadn't frozen. Oh well, but maybe I guess I will unfreeze both if I apply for State Farm.

[Swatch]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What is depressing your scores like that? Those scores are rather low and you will get denied for whatever the reasons are that are keeping your scores down. Address those factors. If they are late payments, let a year past from the last late before you think of applying for anything.

If they are charges offs or collections you will have to deal with them. Best approach is a "pay for delete".

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Yeah, they are terrible scores but I think there's not much to be done besides adding more positive history while waiting for a year or two. Foreclosure after lots and lots of lates. And a separate collection for the foreclosed property, for a loan modification (which I wouldn't have done if I had known it would be appearing as a separate derog on my CRs).

[Swatch]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What is depressing your scores like that? Those scores are rather low and you will get denied for whatever the reasons are that are keeping your scores down. Address those factors. If they are late payments, let a year past from the last late before you think of applying for anything.

If they are charges offs or collections you will have to deal with them. Best approach is a "pay for delete".

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And I understand what you're saying. I have done a lot of research but sometimes it's hard to remember. I wasn't trying for a "real" CC, only student cards. However, I guess I'm going to stop with any HP credit stuff now, except for maybe State Farm's student card. They are supposedly really easy to get. Surely they would give me a small limit ($300) but approve? Or maybe that is not sure at all and it would just hurt.

[Swatch]

I decided against Credit One. That annual fee is way too steep.

I also decided against Fingerhut. Way too overpriced.

I guess I'm going to skip State Farm. I might change my mind.

[newfossil]

Have you thought about open sky? It's a secured card, but no hp