What can I do to establish credit and get a really high credit score?

This should help you to understand how credit scores work..

FICO scores from 300 to 850 and Vantage Plus scores from 501 to 990.

Here is the breakdown for both systems.

Vantage Plus system scores from 501-990.

A-901-990

B-801-900

C-701-800

D-601-700

F-501-600

FICO system scores from 300-850.

Elite-740-& up

Prime-700-739

Preferred-660-699

Standard-625-659

Sub-prime-624-& under

FICO is the only one that matters since it's the one that all major lenders look at.

So as you can see it depends on if your looking at a true FICO score or a Vantage plus score.

As far as what makes up credit scores it's the following;

1. Payment history (longer the better) 35%

2. Time in bureau (longer the better) 15%

3. Types of credit (mix of credit cards & installment loans) 10%

4. New credit (new accounts and inquiries) 10%

5. Debt to credit ratio (lower the better) 30%

So as you can see credit scores are the result of opening and paying lines of credit.

The benefits are many including getting the best interest rate weather it's for a vehicle loan, home loan or credit card.

So you will know paying things like rent, utilities and cell phone bills do nothing what so ever to build credit. Neither do checking and savings accounts or debt to income ratios. Some people really should not answer these questions.

You are currently building nice credit.

You really don't need much more than this.

On a credit card, please be careful since the fico score considers this revolving credit.

For best scores with credit cards make sure you pay in full each month.

It is 100% myth that making payments (carrying balances) is good for credit.

Just use the card at least once a year, and pay in full when you get the bill in the mail.

You can develop amazing scores just with that one card.

Concentrate in school, and get a great job when you get out.

One more note: Plenty of people buy their first cars without any credit.

All you need is stable employment with sufficient salary.

Someone mentioned utility payments helping your credit. They do NOT help as there is no credit extended to you. You are simply billed for a service which does not help credit reports at all. I've lived in 14 different places and have never had any utilities report. they just don't unless you never pay and owe money after it's closed.

You could always open a few more accounts and just sit on them a while. You don't have to use credit cards just because you got them. Or you could have one set up to autopay your cell phone and then pay the card each month instead of the cell phone bill. It'd be the same amount, just different place to pay. It would help build credit doing that.

Other than that, just keep doing what you're doing, Do not close out your current accounts when paid off as the age of them will help you later on.

Once some history is established, then your credit score should start to go up. You must make payments on time, this is a key factor. Most importantly keep your credit spent less than 25% of your credit available. Increase your credit limit, but stay within 25%. If you don't use the card, this will hurt your score, and if you close accounts, this could also hurt your score. Check equifax or transunion, they may have more info on their websites.

If you're renting an apartment, having the utility bills in your name, and making the payments on time each month, will help your credit rating.

The other thing that can help is having a high ratio of income to debt but as a college student your income is generally going to be pretty low. Most folks don't start to establish a good credit record until after they've graduated.

You are doing great in increasing your credit score with paying your bills fully and on time. It is also important to check that your banks or lending companies are reporting to the credit bureaus regularly.