<p>Do students usually thank their recommendation writers and college counselors? What is an appropriate gift? Regardless of where DS gets in or not, I feel like it is important for him to give them a proper acknowledgement and would like him to give a gift along with a thank you letter. Any ideas?</p>
<p>Our daughter wrote a nice thank you card, enclosed a M/C gift card, and tied it to a bag of homemade treats.</p>
<p>That sounds good. The homemade treats here would have to be made by me-def not a DS thing!</p>
<p>My sons picked up local chocolate from the towns where they ultimately decided to attend college and they wrote letters. (With much nagging from Mom.) I thought ythe letter to younger son’s GC was a bit over the top, but thankfully she loved it. She called me up practically in tears she was so touched. Apparently no one had ever thanked her before - I think the teachers usually get more attention. My son was often frustrated by her as she never seemed to be available when he was free, but we both knew she must have written as good a letter as it was possible to write based on his acceptances. This is just my long winded way of saying the letter is even more important than the gift.</p>
<p>Both kids waited till after acceptances to write the letters.</p>
<p>My son got his History teacher the book Paris 1919 by Macmillan and Holebrooke and his Biology teacher earrings in the shape of DNA strands. His own idea and very thoughtful. Something they would remember.</p>
<p>D1 wrote thank you notes to her recommenders and put them in mugs from the college. she was attending She also filled the mugs with chocolate and a gift card. When she is home on break, she does some substitute teaching. This week, she was at the HS and subbed in the Physics class. She said that the Physics teacher still had her thank you note from 2 years ago on his bulletin board.</p>
<p>Biocellar,</p>
<p>Wow, what an amazing son!</p>
<p>Our school discourages gifts, so our D just wrote a really nice note and hand delivered it.</p>
<p>Handwritten note is a must. If you want to so more, give them a bag of Ghirardelli/Lindt. That’s what I did for my amazing rec teachers.</p>
<p>My daughter got in to her first choice school ED. She hand wrote thank you notes to the 2 teachers & guidance counselor who wrote her letters of rec. She also gave them boxes of chocolate from a local high end artisan chocolate shop & a small Starbuck’s gift card. The guidance counselor got an additional gift from me…a bottle of champagne since he was always available for my DD.</p>
<p>D wrote nice thank you notes with movies passes and gift card for popcorn/drinks. A small token is a nice gesture and wasn’t too expensive. The thank you note is the most important item!</p>
<p>Handwritten note and Dunkin Donuts/Starbucks gift card, according to the preference of the teacher, as noted by the student’s observation of cup use in early morning classes.</p>
<p>All the kids did a more personal gift for those with whom they had a more personal relationship - mentor, music teacher, etc. - and in some cases took the individual out for a meal before leaving town.</p>
<p>So many excellent suggestions. Any thank you gesture will be appreciated so don’t fret over the right one. My son reluctantly wrote notes and gave Amazon gift cards. If you buy them online you get pretty ribboned boxes. When the recipients shared their delight and told him what that bought, I think it sunk in just how meaningful it is to be grateful.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who thinks giving a gift as a thank you for a letter of recommendation is distasteful? I especially don’t like the idea of gift cards, which are close to cash. No offense meant, just my opinion.</p>
<p>So, nottelling, how do you express your gratitude to letter writers?</p>
<p>i think a thank you note is all that necessary or appropriate, along with a follow up note to let the recommender know where the student ended up.</p>
<p>No argument there.</p>
<p>We were so grateful to the teachers and GC! Of course there were handwritten cards. We have so many wonderful artists in VT and it’s fun to buy their cards. Then we got VT chocolates for each. I don’t think gifts are needed, but I think they’re appreciated as long as they’re not too expensive. I can’t quite remember what we did after acceptances. Certainly my son informed them all where he’d gotten in and where he was going and thanked them again. I’m sure I thanked them again too. We might have given more chocolates or hand baked treats. I make good cookies and candies.</p>
<p>Teachers are often over worked and underpaid. A small gift is a nice thing if you can afford it. Giving something after graduation does not seem like a bribe. My son gave nice pens to his teachers. My daughter bought some funny dolls for some of her teachers…like a Marie Antoinette whose head popped off.</p>
<p>I gave a card and a small personalized trinket thing based on things they like (etsy is a beautiful thing). However, I’d also say that a good thank-you is emailing/updating the teacher maybe once or twice a year-- I’m planning on that. I also don’t have one of the teachers this semester, and have been by his office a couple of times in the course of the semester to keep up updated and just chat.</p>