<prompt> Human: Worse as in, affecting the current credit score.nbsp;My gf was stabbed, she has 8k medical bill that was sent to collections She is fighting it but its not looking favourable, long story. Anyway, she also has an 8k maxed out credit card.. the money on there is from schoolschool books. Initially, her credit score was 740 even WITH the collections account, but after the card was maxed out, it has dropped to 610. She has never missed a payment on the credit card, but obviously maxed out credit is bad.nbsp;We need to raise her score up to 740 again ASAP.. what is the best way to do this? Do we pay off the collections account, or do we pay off the card? I am assuming the credit card since the drop occurred after maxing it out, but I am being extra cautious here.nbsp;If we pay off the card today, the entire amount, how long does it take for her score to go back up?  <response>: Your maxed out cc is worse, mainly due to the interest that applies. With 8k collections account on medical bill, you can workout some sort of payment agreement without worrying about interest. 