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Topic would somebody help me!!!!
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By s_varma
On 09/04/00
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i am new in USA, studying in western michigan university and i have no credit history.will somebody tell me how can I get a credit card.
saurabh varma
reply me plese at varma_s99@rediffmail.com
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By slava.b
On 09/05/00
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Hello, Kalamazoo!
Having been in exactly the same situation (foreign student, Western Michigan University, Club 'Soda' on Saturdays), I feel obligated to share my thoughts.
First, do you have an assistantship? If yes, you should get your SSN as the first step - you need it to get paid by the school, anyway. If you don't have any university-sponsored jobs (WMICH probably assigned you a 999- number if this is the case), then you should try to get permission to work on campus (cafeteria at the student center will be just fine) and get SSN anyway. This is ultimately the most important step - you CAN'T get any credit without having a Social Security Number.
Once you're all set with the SSN, do this:
- Go to "First of America" and open both checking AND savings account. If you already have an account there opened with a tempoary 999- number, make sure they re-register it under your real SSN.
- Ask them if they can give you some sort of overdraft protection for your checking account (I am not sure they do it, but if they do, it'll show up on your credit report as a credit line). You can also try to get a gasoline card
- If you live off-campus, try to get utilities and phone billed in your name (I am not sure if works for Stadium Drive apartments though)
- Wait for about 2-3 months for all this information to get to credit bureaus
Then you'll be ready to apply for a credit card. I'd stick with a "student" variety of cards - those usually tend to have more relaxed income requirements.
Good luck
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your questions are answered by the gromco team and card users like you
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