<p>D will graduate (from college :eek: ) in May - while she was travelling last week for some interviews it became apparent that at this point, she really should have a credit card of her own. So we’re looking for some recommendations on a student card that you’ve had good luck with. Any great offers / terms that you know of? Hidden gems? Things to look out for? :)</p>
<p>There have been several CC threads on “best cards” for students while they are in college. This may (or perhaps not) be the first asking about cards for recent graduates (which is what your D will be in a few months). I’ll speculate that’s because college students are often targeted by credit card companies looking for customers. But whatever.</p>
<p>Since your D has been overlooked somehow, the easiest solution to “she really should have a credit card of her own” is to open a joint credit card account in your name and her name. Let her manage the account (which works best if she’s the only one charging to it).</p>
<p>Newhope - if we were to open a joint account, is she building a credit history? That’s another goal. She may have received offers during the past couple years but didn’t accept any…which is good, I guess?</p>
<p>(I realize there are other threads on this subject but as offers change frequently, I was hoping for some current info.) ;)</p>
<p>I may have been putting too much weight on that verb “need” (as in “needs a credit card”). I’d still suggest the joint account while your D gets around to acquiring one in her own name. Good luck.</p>
<p>I got a card with capital one right after graduation. No annual fee, 1% cash back. Not even sure what the interest rate is anymore because I pay my balance every month anyway. This card is perfect for me, but if your D wouldn’t be paying the balance she’d of course want to compare the interest rate to other cards.</p>
<p>We will have the same issue with our Peace Corps daughter. Her B of A credit card is here…unactivated and probably not able to be activated at this point…it’s been a year since it came. Plus…a $500 credit line really won’t be of much use.</p>
<p>I am getting DD a credit card off of my credit union account. It will really be mine but I do NOT have a CC with them now so really, she will be the only one using it. It will be hand carried to her in Africa. When she gets back here and starts working, she will open her own credit union account and will be able to get her own card there too (at that point she will be working someplace so this should work out fine). </p>
<p>Her need for a credit card before she returns here is for travel purposes…just as easily on a card associated with our accounts as with one for her. Once she is working, she’ll be on her own.</p>
<p>When S1 started college, we put him on one of our cards. Also during college he worked at a store and was able to get a Visa card through them. He just got a new one with more benefits. Neither of his cards have very high limits. He still keeps our card and uses it for approved gift purchases, dental work, and a few things like that. In an emergency, he could use that much higher credit limit, if necessary.</p>
<p>Did the same for S2 when he was 16 and traveling a couple of times by himself. He has used that card all through college. It makes it easy to see his monthly expenditures. I questioned a few restaurant charges until he explained that he goes out to eat with friends. He pays the bill with the cc and they pay him cash. That way he doesn’t have to pay ATM fees. He took a car back sophomore year (sr now). I can also tell by how rarely he puts gas in the car that he is not spending a lot of time driving around.</p>
<p>I have three credit cards. The first I got was some student credit card through Capital One and I absolutely hate it- but I can’t close it because it’s my oldest credit line and my average credit history is still under 2 years. I would avoid Cap One like the plague, but that’s just me. Another is from a local bank. No annual fee and very low interest rate. Another is from my U’s credit union. Another no annual fee one and I get cash back (can’t remember the percent off the top of my head). The credit union gave me by far the best deal. I would recommend she look into a credit union card. </p>
<p>If she’s a graduate, I don’t recommend getting it on a joint account. She is plenty old enough to have her own.</p>
<p>Yikes, romani, what’s wrong with your capital one card? Mine has been totally hassle free but I suppose they still have plenty of time to **** me off. 
I don’t have a “student” card, though, so maybe that has something to do with it?</p>
<p>my recommendations for a student credit card are:
get one in student’s name as soon as a bank will permit it, with adult as co-signer if necessary. Assign a low max. limit in case of loss, theft, or extravagant student.</p>
<p>This way, the student starts earning a good credit history early, and does not find himself at 25 or 30 with no credit. My experience is that banks and landlords generally consider no credit history as = to poor credit history. We followed same principle for a small car loan my son had at 17, too.</p>
<p>The OPs daughter is NOT yet a college grad. She graduates in May.</p>
<p>IMO, people need to start building credit before they graduate college. My moms a banker and that’s been drilled into my head since the cradle. People start building credit way too late for the times we live in.</p>
<p>Ema, I’ll tell you in a pm when I’m not typing from my phone lol.</p>
<p>If she hasn’t graduated, is there a bank associated with her U?</p>
<p>No, no bank or credit union associated with her U. But she does have an account at a bank local to the U, and also a UGMA account linked to H & my accounts at BoA. (I’m one of the few who has actually been happy with BoA). Maybe we’ll go down to my branch and she can fill out the app for their student card, while she’s home on break. Or just a regular card which I’ll co-sign for.</p>
<p>Yes, you are right, Thumper(post 11), I see your point. With only a few months from college graduation, it is a bit late for student to now be thinking of establishing credit. But not too late. Better now than 2, 3, or 5 yrs from now.
As romani has expressed, it is valuable for a young person to start soon. That’s why I helped my S start at 17.</p>
<p>Voice of disagreement here. Even if you have paid a credit card balance in full for YEARS…if you do not have a job, you will not be able to secure loans or perhaps rent a dwelling in your own name (which is the reason MOST people want good credit).</p>
<p>Yes, having a credit card, and managing it is a very good thing for young people to learn to do. Learning to only spend what you HAVE isn’t a bad lesson to learn either.</p>
<p>The best time to build your credit for the purposes you really need it for …when you have a JOB…in my opinion.</p>
<p>Thumper, just because she’s trying to find a post-college full time job doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a job now. </p>
<p>OP, does your daughter have a job right now? A part time one or an on-campus job? Having a credit card (even if you don’t use it) is building credit (because you have an older credit line). </p>
<p>I have a lot of friends right now who just graduated (either last May or this December) who are struggling. I know people that have been turned down for fairly cheap cars, credit cards, and even apartments because they have no credit history. Yes, part of this is because of the economy, but it so important to have “older” credit especially as a young person in your early 20s just starting out on your own. When I was buying a car in February, most people wanted at least 2 years of credit to get the car in my name only even though I make a decent amount of money for my age and had a good down payment (I made over 6x what my monthly payment is and they still wanted me to have 2 years of credit).</p>
<p>But Roman…they also wanted you to have a JOB. That two years of “good credit” was NOT going to get you a car loan without a job to pay the payments. Just saying.</p>
<p>My kids both had student credit cards in college when B of A offered them with the student accounts. DS’s credit limit was $300 and DDs was $500. They could barely buy books for a term. They had it for emergencies ONLY. The credit card industry has really tightened up the issuing of student credit cards. </p>
<p>I would suggest the OP ask her daughter if she has received any mail solicitations for credit cards. Perhaps she has…and if so, that might be a place to start.</p>
<p>Re: Capitol One…read the fine print re: late payments and your interest rates.</p>
<p>:) Believe it or not, I asked her about solicitations and evidently she has not received any in her campus box. Quite a change from the gool old days! A few have come here to the house, which I (of course :rolleyes: ) promptly threw away. I’m certainly not going to worry about woulda, coulda, shoulda, as far as establishing credit is concerned. She hasn’t had a card, can’t change that. So I guess I’ll just pick one, most likely with BoA, and her “history” can start from there. Better late than never. </p>
<p>Thumper, I agree, a JOB is most important. And, yes, she has a part time job in admissions.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I didn’t say that just the credit got me the car. I already had proof of my income- that was not the issue. Even with a good job (which I had), they wanted 2 years of credit credit. The credit did NOT get me the car, the longish-term credit PLUS the job got it. You can’t just start building credit right before you want something. It takes time. That’s all I’m saying.</p>
<p>Justa, that’s perfect. She has a job so she should absolutely be fine with getting a credit card in her own name if she’s 21 or older. Good luck to your D 
(with both the card and with the post-graduation job hunt)!</p>
<p>So funny that the banner at the top of this page when I went to the Cafe was for Capitol One and Chase credit cards:)</p>