<p>You can get a credit card with a parent as co-signer. My child has one which allows a slow building up of credit history. He is also learning about keeping track of expenses and such and has a nice backup in case of emergencies. Have your parents check at their bank about it.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the insights. Although I currently have no job, I will not overspend or use my credit card to make unnecessary purchases like a new iPhone, MacBook, etc. I plan on using it strictly on textbooks, books, school supplies, transit, fees, etc. My “income” would be the scholarships I have and any future salary I’ll get when, or if, I’ll get hired. Again thanks for all the insights, but I’ve heard most of them before. I can assure you that I will use my CC responsibly. With that, which CC would be the best as my first one? I see some saying the Discovery card. I was looking into that, but is it the best? Is it better than the Journey card, or any other cards?</p>
<p>My other option I’m considering is closing my existing account with Chase and open a Wells Fargo account so I can get a secured card. Thoughts/opinions?</p>
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I’ve run into situations where only Visa or Master cards were accepted, not Discover or American Express (maybe they charge merchants higher fees on each transaction?). As for which bank to get it from: Citi Bank and Capital One seem to give credit cards to college students without a co-signer quite liberally, even post-recession. (Although I have heard many complaints about Capital One’s low credit limits.) </p>
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I would apply for a regular credit card first and see what happens. Secured cards usually have annual fees (unlike some of the regular cards) and no rewards program. (After one year with my new credit card, I’ve got enough rewards points for an Xbox with Kinnect. :D)</p>
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<p>I’m sorry oldfort - but when I am talking from personal experiences, meaning people I actually knew and had discussions with, you cannot say I am wrong because those conversations and observations were accurate in the setting I was in. I speak from the college I went to, the people I had class with - do you know them personally? I went to 3 very different colleges and met a very diverse group of people, from a terrible community college to a not-so-great private uni to a very well-respected private college. Yes, it is a generalization, but in my experience it is correct more often than not (as a side note, research shows that many stereotypes fit the majority of groups they stereotype, but this isn’t something people like to talk about when it comes to touchy subjects such as racial - or class - stereotypes). </p>
<p>Back to the original post - My first card was Capital One, and I also have a Visa Barclaycard that I used to buy my laptop. It is generally recommended to have no more than 20-25% of your credit limit on your card before it starts to affect your credit score. So if you have a credit limit of say, $1000, don’t put more than $250 on it (preferably less so you can pay it off each month). </p>
<p>Between the offers I got and the ones I see my friends and relatives getting (college-aged), there’s not a whole lot of difference in offers. Some offer 6 months of interest-free charges, others offer a year, and some don’t offer interest-free at all. Avoid cards that have annual fees. My Capital One card has a $40 annual fee, but since I never pay interest (by paying it off each month) the $40 is worth it for the convenience sometimes. The Barclaycard does not have an annual fee.</p>
<p>My kids both have a State Farm Bank visa and a checking/savings account with State Farm bank. I am not sure of the limits now, but I know at one point you could get a student visa without a cosigner if your income was at least $5,000. The income requirement may be higher now. No annual fee on the student visa. The checking or savings account is especially nice since they can go to any atm and the fees are reimbursed, especially since both of my kids are at schools with different banks than we have locally here at home. We have instilled in our kids from a very early age to pay off the entire bill each month and they both have religiously been doing that. In fact they both pretty much just pay off each charge as soon as they charge something by transferring money from the checking account to the visa account. Very simple and all on line. They don’t need a credit card very often but sometimes it really comes in handy.</p>
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<p>My kids did that also when they were in school and didn’t use their cards often - isn’t online banking amazing? Now I know they pay off the bill in full each month, but think they wait until the money is actually due.</p>