This is More Important Than Passing Your Classes
Like most college students, nothing could quite prepare me for my dramatic increase in responsibilities: what do you mean, relationships? cooking for myself? time management? navigating public transportation? and worst of all, finances??
How It All Begins
Maybe you’ve already gotten your letters in the mail, maybe you haven’t. But as soon as I graduated high school, my mailbox was full and my email was flooding with messages like this:

(Shameless plug: if you want a good student credit card, check out Discover. They have pretty reasonable plans.)
And before I knew it, I shipped myself off to college with a brand new, fully loaded credit card in hand. Should you get a credit card like I did? I think yes. Should you handle it like I did? Well, that’s why I am writing this article.
Before You Buy
First, lets talk about some of the things that I’m glad I knew before I got a card:
According to Claire Tsosie, a credit card expert for nerdwallet, it’s okay that the “best” credit cards aren’t for beginners, so make sure you get one that actually fits you! And with that, make sure you’re aware of the rates fees before you apply.
Some other ideas I pocketed were from Farnoosh Torabi, a blog writer for Inuit:
- credit cards are not just free money
- handling your credit poorly can haunt you for years
- you should talk to a trusted superior before opening a card
Though these were good things to know before I made my first transaction, how many of these principles did I actually put into practice? None.
Sometimes as young adults we can feel like we need to amass all the knowledge and wisdom we can before we move in a certain direction. That’s what I tried to do with my credit, but to no avail did it keep me from getting into $1,000 in debt in one semester. That’s right, $1,000.
All of Your Credit Knowledge Should Build on This: Know Yourself.
My biggest tip out there to my fellow college students is that you really need to know yourself when it comes to spending habits and responsibility. I am naturally a very impulsive and emotional spender, especially when it comes to food (don’t event get me started on coffee shops!). I really had hoped that I could just will my way to good credit by withholding my precious piece of plastic from the chip-reader. But it didn't work. At the time, I was too immature and too adventurous. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
If you’ve known yourself to be frugal and responsible, then go ahead and get a a card! Start building your credit now. But if the paragraph above resonated with you more, then I would suggest a little more self reflection and advice before signing a contract. After all, graduation will come and life will move forward, but financial burdens move with you also. Handling all of this smartly, the first time — which is ultimately done by knowing yourself — is even more important than passing your classes.
