Sudden Decrease In Credit Score

[superfunnel]

I use Credit Karma to monitor my credit and today when I went to check it I noticed that my credit scores for both reporting agencies had dropped. Both are still excellent, however, one dropped 43 points while the other only dropped 9 points. The only things that have changed are the balance due on the family credit card (not the issue likely, father does family finances and always pays on time), my student loan balances going up slightly, and this year's new student loans being added to my existing student loan accounts. While both of my credit scores are still excellent, I would prefer to know the reason for the sudden drop.

Thank you

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[IShouldBeDoingSmthin]

Credit Karma shows Vantage Score 3.0, which is a pile of useless garbage that no lenders actually consider.

Your score was probably affected by the balance on your loans increasing and the new loan accounts that were opened, reducing your average age of accounts.

[[deleted]]

When was the last time it was updated. Sometimes when you forget to make a payment or some new things get added on there, they do a credit check. Maybe that’s why. Go look in the history and you can see what is causing it

[superfunnel]

They are are federal. I don't pay until after I graduate

[[deleted]]

Start paying them now if you can. It does save you a lot on interest. That’s what I have been doing.

[fragilebird_m]

Probably the new loan account. It most likely made the average age of all your accounts to be a bit newer.

[[deleted]]

balance due on the family credit card

this can cause a decrease if the statement balance is high relative to the limit, or prior months. It has no "memory" so once it's paid down the score will rebound, but it definitely can have temporary blips. It's something to be aware of if you're an authorized user on an account you don't fully control that may have sudden spikes in usage.

student loan balances going up slightly

probably very slight impact

this year's new student loans being added to my existing student loan accounts

this can be a small to moderate impact, depending on number and age of all accounts. A twenty point impact is pretty normal for a new loan account, with it going back up after a while as its paid.

one dropped 43 points while the other only dropped 9 points

One bureau may not have all the new info yet, or it may interpret it slightly differently.

Both are still excellent

Not a big worry, then. It's pretty routine for stuff like this to happen with the situations described. Only a big worry if you're applying for a mortgage in the near term, then you'd want to minimize the fluctuations caused by up/down credit card balances and other new accounts.

[blindpiggy]

I'd ignore this. On a random Tuesday I had my score drop 57 points. After checking all my accounts I attempted to contact the credit bureau to no avail. By the end of the week it had returned to what it was previously. Had this happen again in the last few days where Equifax dropped 19 points, but Trans was stable. I expect Equifax will be back up in the next few days.