Question regarding debts, credits, and ssn

Hello,

So I am a student who has about 6000 dollars in tuition debt.
debts are in Agency's hand and I haven't contacted them because I was unable to pay 6000 dollars...

I do not have a SSN at the moment but I just got approved like a week ago and my card will be here tomorrow. I'm planning on applying for SSN but I am worried that those debts might affect my credit before I even apply for a credit card.

My debts are from school so they probably only have my name, address, and phone number.

I'm worried that my first-time-ever social security number will be somehow revealed by the agency and it will shoot down my credit.
Now, I am able to pay off 6000, all at once.

So, should I pay off all my debts before I apply for SSN? will that prevent hurting my credit? does it even matter? and is it better to pay 6k at once or pay monthly?
I'll simplify this...

1. should I pay off my debts before applying for SSN?
2. how bad will this affect my credit if somehow my ssn falls in agency's hand? (I had this debt for like an year)
3. should I pay this debt monthly or all at once?

please help!! I need to be able to use my credit...

I read my own post again and realized I wasn't clear on some stuff.

So 2. how bad will this affect my credit if somehow my ssn falls in agency's hand? (I had this debt for like an year) question really means,

I know that my "credit" is already bad because of the debt but without a SSN, I had difficult time finding my own debts because I couldn't use any "credit report" system such as annualcreditreport.com, the debt collector's website and etc. so I was assuming that without SSN, it's hard to track my debts.

For instance, if I try to get a loan for a car or apply for a credit card, will they know that my credit is bad just with my name and address?

I honestly don't even know where to start... this is so frustrating and I don't have anyone around me that can help me with this problem... sad life...

It will eventually catch up and show up in your credit score. I had the same experience.

First of all once your get SSN, you must send letters to all credit bureaus informing them to transfer all credit history under the new SSN so yes it will catch up. Two, you mentioned you can pay off the bill, so definitely pay it off before applying for a SSN, in which case I am pretty sure your record will start clean. Once you get ur SSN, you must completely cease the use of ur ITIN.

You know you should check go see if that debt wasn't sold to a collection agency

What made you owe that much money and for the debt to go into an agency, and you saving the $6,000?

With that amount, first thing i would ask is if there's any discount they can offer if you pay the amount in full... not sure if they will do with tuition but you might have success and save yourself some money.

Then i would pay the $6k BEFORE applying for the SSN, in case a collection agency scans your name and phone and finds out now you have a SSN. I would call whoever you owe money to and ask if the debt has been sold to a collection agency, which on that case you should handle things with said agency and not the original creditor.

Most collection agencies offer good discounts if you pay the amount in full. Remember they are looking for ANYTHING back so a little is better than nothing. Use that to your advantage.

Reply to TexanJose and brz09tls

so I had to go to school but I didn't have much money but I had to go so I took short term loan and stuff...

another question is, how much is a "good" discount? one of my original debt was 2530 and now it's 3600 now.. how much discount should I ask for? I will pay in full but I've never dealt with agencies so I'm kind of worried and scared in a way too.

any advices would help and I really appreciate your time!!!

To give you an idea, a couple of years ago I was able to negotiate with a collection agency and settled for $350 from a debt that was around $1,400. You do have to report to the IRS when you negotiate something like this though cause you get taxed when the difference between what you owe and what you settle for is over $600.