But you had cc's (credit score) before, right? I doubt my credit score has jumped from being non-exsistent to being good enough to be approved for an amex in a couple months. Could it?
Probably not from a low limit secured card.
Get yourself some store cards, spend money on them each month (even just $1), pay them off, wait half a year, and then you can probably get one.
It take a few months for some cards to even start reporting to the agencies.