I’m a senior and two teachers wrote letters of recommendation for college for me. I plan on of course giving them a handwritten thank you letter (is it okay to mention I enjoyed their class in it?) which I spent a lot of time on. My mom wants me to give them a $20 starbucks gift card as well. The money is of course not a problem but I really liked these teachers’ classes and learned a lot in them and I ant my thank you to sound genuine, because it is. Do teachers generally feel a bit hesitant to take gifts (in these case gift cards) from students. This is after they submitted them, so it should be clear I’m not trying to “buy” a good letter.
see this recent thread http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21802602#Comment_21802602
We gave the teachers who wrote LORs a small gift of gratitude but made sure that we gave them before the admission results came in so that the gifts were connected to the appreciation of their efforts and not the results. Both teachers were females, so we gave them a gift card along with a bouquet of flowers.
A sincere customized note of thanks is a “must” imo. A small gift, like a gc in the monetary range you mentioned, I think is also appropriate and would be appreciated, but not necessary.
I commented in a similar thread that my D19 ordered awesome “Love Pop” cards for her teachers and GC.
These cards pop up into an amazing design, and there’s a pull-out card where she wrote a long personalized letter with each. She also included a gift card. They were very appreciative of the gift cards, but were most enthralled with the unique cards. She chose an eagle design, to match her HS mascot. I bet they will hang on to these cards all year.
Also, be mindful of $ dollar limits re gifts. Many school districts have rules that gifts cannot exceed $25 or other amt.
Most important thing is the written, personalized thank you.
My D thanked her recommenders with from-scratch baked goods. (However, experience prompts me to caution against leaving perishables in a teacher or counselor’s mailbox when they may already have gone home for the holiday break #-o )