<p>I'd really like to thank the college counselor who's been so helpful to us in this process as well as the two faculty members who took the time to write thoughtful recs for our student. What do you think would be appropriate, if anything?</p>
<p>I think giving gifts to people to write a recommendation is a bit of a conflict of interest.</p>
<p>It creates an environment where a letter writer is encouraged to write a more glowing letter in hopes of receiving a little nicer gift.</p>
<p>Teachers and counselors are typically not compensated for the time they take to write recommendation letters. (In our area, this was raised as a negotiating point during recent contract talks.) Therefore, it is entirely appropriate to provide a small token of appreciation. There is no conflict of interest! Anyone agreeing to write a letter of recommendation is goint to say nice things about your kid - you are acknowledging that this is “not part of their job description” and they are “going above and beyond” their duties. </p>
<p>Just prior to graduation, we gave our DS’s counselor and recommending teachers gift certificates to local restaurants. Not a huge expense, but a nice token of appreciation.</p>
<p>I’m doing handwritten thank you notes with a$20 Panera Bread gift card.</p>
<p>I am taking homemade cookies to the guidance counselor’s office as a thank you next week. At the end of the year, I will do the same for the teachers who wrote letters for admissions applications and scholarships.</p>
<p>Handwritten Thank You notes and gift certificates to Starbucks or Barnes and Nobel. ($10 for GC, $25 for each teacher - D actually liked her teachers ;))</p>
<p>Thanks! I like the idea of a certificate for books or a meal. We signed a waiver saying that we wouldn’t read the recs so they’d be objective so no “buying” good recs here!</p>
<p>I forgot to indicate that handwritten thank you notes accompanied the gift certificates we provided.</p>
<p>Each of my girls waited until they got accepted and chose their college before they formally thanked the rec writers. </p>
<p>D1 bought logo coffee mugs from her college book store and filled them with Hershey’s kisses and gave them with a thank you note. D2 wrote each a thank you note on logo college stationary and gave that along with a fancy European chocolate bar.</p>
<p>We did the same as Queensmom.</p>
<p>Ours was similar to coureur’s kids - once they decided where they were going, my children wrote a nice note letting the recommender know where they had decided to attend and enclosed a small gift - chocolates, a gift card to that coffee place I detest etc. </p>
<p>I did give the guidance counselor who had really put forth efforts for all three kids a gift basket, but we had a closer personal relationship.</p>
<p>(And of course really personal relationships, like the music teacher who’s worked with the kid for years and is like her second mother, got really special gifts.)</p>
<p>I think we did Starbucks cards (and thank you notes) at Christmas time - so it was after they had written the recs. And we did a nice bouquet for voice teachers after she got in to her top school.</p>
<p>My S waited until he chose where he was going. Then he wrote thank you notes and gave them each a t-shirt with the logo of the college he is attending.</p>
<p>In our public school district we were not permitted to give gifts to members of the faculty or administration. It was considered a potential conflict of interest. We are, however, able to contribute to a town scholarship fund in recognition of our teachers.</p>
<p>Like many others have noted, my kids waited until near the end of the year, in order to include information about college choice. The handwritten thank you notes expressed appreciation for the time taken by the teacher - my son pointed out that while he got something tangible for his time spent on essays (college acceptance and scholarship), his teachers spent their time in his behalf. We included gift cards - matching the teacher’s interests, if known.</p>
<p>We did the same as others and D wrote a nice note with a Starbuck’s giftcard.</p>
<p>My kids wrote thank you notes once acceptances were in and we gave the teachers chocolates that we had picked up during accepted students events. We wrote a letter to the GC. My younger son rolled his eyes about the latter, but he ended up writing a (somewhat over the top) letter about how he was sure that she must have written a fantastic letter about him to have had such positive results. She was practically in tears she was so touched. I think the GCs often get forgotten. We gave her chocolate too, but really it was the letter that was meaningful to her.</p>
<p>My kids gave hand-written “thank you” notes and a small box of good candy or homemade (by them) baked goods once EA acceptances came in (which was before winter break in our case)</p>
<p>I think it is important for the students to immediately send a handwritten thank you note after they receive a letter of recommendation. The teachers and the guidance counselor are doing this as something “extra” for the student. Of all the things I’ve received from students and their parents (all of which were appreciated–bookstore and Starbucks cards are great!) the personal notes from the students have survived the years. I keep them in a file drawer in my classroom and they remind me why I do this job.</p>
<p>I really like the other ideas people posted, but I think waiting until acceptances come out may be a bit too long.</p>
<p>BTW I see I said “we” wrote a letter to the GC. I had nothing to do with the content except to tell son he needed to write it. He did show it to me and I said “Do you think you are overdoing it?” and he said “Yes, but that’s okay.”</p>