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If you are in school, you have probably received a number of student credit card application forms in the mail. These mailings are typically sent en masse to college students around the world, offering them the opportunity to get their first credit cards.

When used wisely, these cards can be a great way for students to build a solid credit history before leaving school and entering the workforce, and may enable them to make emergency purchases as cash strapped students when necessary. Before you fill out the application, there are a few things that you should know.

The difficulty in qualifying for credit when you are a student often stems from the fact that these young adults have little credit history to speak of. Typically, most students have never before had a card or a bill in their name, so their credit history is non-existent. These special applications and terms take this into account, and generally have different requirements than more traditional types of credit.

As there is slightly more risk involved in lending to those whose credit is unknown, the terms that you are offered may not be entirely favorable. In some cases, interest rates will be higher than average on student cards. In others, it may be necessary to provide the contact information of your parents as cosignatories. This means that if you do not pay your balance, they will be responsible for doing so.

Students should be prepared to fill out information on the student credit card application in answer to questions about their current level of income, their parent’s income bracket and other items which may be deemed relevant. It is typically required that applicants furnish their social security numbers on these forms, so students should be aware of that before moving forward. It may also be necessary to provide information not just on your current residence, but where you have lived over the past five or ten years. Though it may seem odd, it is a common part of this paperwork and nothing that should raise any red flags.

For many, this will be their first credit card, so it is important to use it wisely. Those who make all their payments on time and maintain a low balance will find that they leave college with no card debt and a spotless credit history. However, students who overspend and are unable to keep up with their bills may find that they have difficulty getting loans or additional cards after graduation.

When college students use them wisely, a student credit card application can help them get off on the right financial foot early. With this initial line of credit, you can begin to build a solid financial future.

Sean Power is Equity Analyst at financial spread betting and CFD trading provider City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk/). Here, he takes a look at the financial headlines shaping trader activity on 1st February:

“Overnight markets in the US traded higher following decent manufacturing data and fourth quarter updates from Pfizer, the US pharmaceutical giant, and UPS, the parcel delivery company; both helping US markets close above psychologically important levels of 12,000 for the Dow and 1300 for the S&P.

The strong US close helped equity markets across Europe start the day in a positive fashion, with the FTSE 100 posting a +1% gain by 9am GMT, with a high of 6020 (+62 points). Also in positive territory at 9am GMT were the DAX +18 points at 7202, the CAC40 +5 points at 4078 and the FTSE MIB Index +79 points at 22604. The FTSE seems to be outperforming other European indices this morning, this is probably due to it being hit harder than most in the last week or so due to it being heavily weighted by financial and mining stocks.

UK equity markets were again driven higher by the mining sector, with Rio Tinto, Xstrata, BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Lonmin and Eurasian Natural Resources all posting +2.5% gains in early trading.

Also helping the FTSE to trade up to 6020 was Imperial Tobacco; the world’s fourth-largest cigarette maker traded sharply higher following an increase in sales and a pledge to boost its dividend. The update was warmly received by investors and Imperial Tobacco traded up to a high of 1890p, +96p or +5.3%.

Unrest in Egypt has eased somewhat, giving investors a much needed confidence boost as well as an increase in risk appetite during this morning and yesterday’s trading sessions, giving wind to the sails of the UK index. Add that to yesterday’s positive macro data and it’s easy to see why the FTSE, at 9am GMT, has added 158 points or +2.7% since Monday evening’s close.

With the situation in the Middle East placated for now, signs of a rebound in the world economy and a seemingly endless reel of better than expected updates, it would seem this rally is here to stay for now.”

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Investment banking is the most financially lucrative position for any university graduate. There are many people vying for the few openings each year in this industry. Graduates who are able to land one of the prime positions have mastered their investment banking interview. Successful candidates are the ones who prepare for their interview and anticipate the questions they might be asked and how to best answer them.

Questions that you will be asked will be either fit questions or technical questions. Technical questions are either right or wrong just like two plus two will always equal four. Investment banking companies ask technical questions to see how well you know the formulas and whether or not you are paying attention in class.

The fit questions are what separates the potential hires form those that are rejected. Companies ask fit questions to make sure you will be a good addition to their company. Fit questions are sometimes referred to as “the airport test.” This tells whether or not an investment banker would feel comfortable spending several hours in the departure lounge of an airport with you.

The fit questions give you an opportunity to be charming and personable and appeal to the interviewer so they will select you for an open position. How you answer a fit question is the ultimate key as to whether or not you will be hired by the company.

The answer to a fit question will show your motivation and desire to work in the investment banking industry which is well known for its 80+ hour work weeks. Companies want to hire employees who show they are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed in this highly competitive industry.

Fit questions give you an opportunity to accentuate your strengths and experiences that will be valuable to the company. Everyone has had many experiences in their lives and answering these questions is the chance to show how your life experiences would benefit the company.

The purpose of fit questions is to put you on the spot and see how well you can think on your feet. It also prevents you from being able to spout out memorized responses to potential questions. Some of the questions that you will be asked assumes that there is no possible way for you to know the answer. What the company is evaluating is how well you can think of a way to solve the question without already knowing the answer. In most cases the interviewer will not know the answer to the question either.

Now that you understand the fit questions will be the major decision factor during your interview, you should focus the majority of your preparation on these forms of questions.

The best student credit cards come from lending institutions that are normally locally run by banks or credit unions. Many of these places value the fact that young people are just getting started in life and do not want to see them crash by getting a bad credit score. Often the parents of these kids have bank accounts in the community and are good customers. The lending institutions feel that it is best to give out student credit cards with low interest rates, waiver the yearly fee, and give extra time in case the payment is running slow before charging late fees. This is the best way for a student to start when they are applying for a credit card.

The student should take into consider the lending institution, the fees charged and the ability to make payments before they accept any agreement. The fact that the logo is Visa, MasterCard or Discovery should not be considered as much as where the loan is coming from and the agreement. The three major credit card company’s offer out their logo’s to the lending institutions but the institutions usually set the agreement policy. This is why it is wise for any student to look into the agreement in order to get the best student credit card. The agreement usually shows you your APR% and it will tell you if this is a fixed rate or if it will increase after you have had the credit card. This is vital for all students to be aware of so that they do not find they are paying out too much money for their loan.

The financial crisis is severely affecting our colleges and universities. Currently, tuition costs have risen out of control and even if students can get student loans to attend college, it puts them into the workforce under a pile of debt, essentially subjecting them to economic enslavement for decades. In fact, many government agencies are now offering to pay off tuition debts if the graduating students do a rather long stint with government employment.

The Universities have been unable to control costs and due to supply and demand issues, coupled with the easy money of government guaranteed loans to college students. Academia is broken, just like the Health Care System, Banking System and Housing Markets, worse the runaway costs have the taxpayers holding the key. Academia has abused their status like the leaders of the other groups.

The unfortunate thing is that we trust academia to insure the education of the next generation which will lead us. It is critical, unfortunately the system is rotten to the core with agendas and the very thing they accuse the entrepreneurial capitalists is something they themselves are engaged in and yet, they remain immune to the realities of; mostly due to the hijacking of the system and political influences.

The future of our nation’s educational system is at stake, whom will run this nation if we cannot give a viable education to the next generation; a countries strength and power can be wiped out in a single generation if education fails. Yet, academia will not come clean. Capitalism has been working in spite the socialist intervention, but the baggage and debris is about to collapse the roof on its house, so one needs to ask; who is really the intellectual strength of our civilization?

Because from where I am standing, it seems rather silly for anyone to insist that our Universities and Colleges are educating our next generation in an efficient matter, academia is broken and if they cannot even run their own domain, I ask; How can we trust them to tell us how to run our civilization? Think on this; open for suggestions and comments.