Getting that first credit card was so easy. All you had to do was fill out a simple application online and click a button to submit it. Just like that, you were a credit cardholder, all thanks to online approval systems. Of course, you still had to wait for the card itself to come in the mail, but didn’t it feel official when it finally arrived? When looking into credit cards online, you read that the best way for you as a student to establish credit was to get a credit card, make small purchases and make your payments on time.