Fico score simulator - school loans

[IodineNightSky]

My school loans w navient have basically been in deferment for at least the past couple years. I owe about 160k on em. I think the principal was like 130k and their monkey interest has run it up to 160k now so it’s like 30k over starting amount.

My ficos are about 640-650s right now.

Playing around w the score simulator, it shows that if I even pay 1$ on my school loan the my ficos would go up 15 points each.

That can’t be true can it? Why would paying a buck on em affect my score at all, much less that much?

[VanderSnoot]

@IodineNightSky wrote:
Playing around w the score simulator, it shows that if I even pay 1$ on my school loan the my ficos would go up 15 points each.

That can’t be true can it? Why would paying a buck on em affect my score at all, much less that much?

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Score simulators are junk. Don't believe them, and feel free to search for similar threads using the bar above for additional support to how crazy score simulators can get.

And as an aside, do not sweat small changes in your scores. They will bobble some - 1 pt here, 5 pts there - just follow the general trajectory. When you're starting a rebuild, you may need to check every month for your own peace of mind and to keep you on the right path, but once you're on your way up, you may do better checking every 3 months or so.

[Anonymous]

Never trust a thing a simulator tells you.  You will not gain 15 points from paying $1.  Taking your aggregate installment loan utilization from maxed out (or greater in your case) to a low/ideal amount would probably result in a 30-35 point gain total.  In order to achieve that against your $130k in balances you'd be looking at paying off around $119k to realize that max gain.  Paying $1 of that certainly isn't going to grab you half of the available points. 

[Revelate]

Unless loans in deferment are excluded from the scoring algorithm and you don't have any other loans on the reports... credit mix.

I honestly don't know how deferred loans count for FICO, though I absolutely agree the simulators leave a lot to be desired and so I wouldn't bet on this one personally.

[Shooting-For-800]

If you have ANY credit card or other normal debt paying it down first will help your scores the most.

Student loan debt is basically neutral as long as you are not behind.

Your monthly payment matters more than you balances.

[IodineNightSky]

yea, i knew the simulator must be way a mess - i had just never used it before so wanted to ask. 

thanks for all the imput and advice, friends!