<p>I’m actually applying this autumn, lol… but thank you for the advice ^^. I’ll do so.</p>
<p>A thank you note is usually sufficient. Knowing the boundaries of the relationship is critical, but if the boundaries are healthy and you are no longer in a student-teacher relationship officially (i.e., grades are in, etc.), a small gift such as homemade cookies (or other food) can be a nice gesture.</p>
<p>python, my reasoning is that you’re thanking them for their time and effort, regardless of whether you are accepted to a particular school. And, in the event that a student is not accepted, it is more awkward to be saying, in effect: Thanks for the letter, but I didn’t get in.</p>
<p>No, what I meant is that I haven’t even asked for the recommendations yet (but thank you for advising me to say thank you. Sorry for the confusion, lol :))</p>
<p>a small gift card–$5-$15 ish–to Starbucks or Barnes and Noble is nice. The thank you letters are very appreciated.</p>
<p>no Python, I’m sorry! I did understand that you haven’t asked yet. Since that is the case, I decided I would explain my reasoning.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>If the teacher’s house is far then you can thank her/him by sending letter and flower.</p>
<p>Handwritten thank you and a potted orchid from Trader Joes.</p>
<p>The best gift is a simple “Thank you” note now and then a note for the next several years telling them how you are doing and how they made it possible with their recommendation. That is better than any other type of gift.</p>
<p>As a school volunteer with a public school teacher husband, I can tell you gift cards are highly appreciated. My son was accepted ED to a reach school and we believe his teacher/counselor recommendations were crucial. When my son asked one of these teachers what he could do for him, the teacher said he’d like a college sweatshirt. Realizing how hard teachers work and how much of what they do is above and beyond the call of duty, we gave them each a sweatshirt AND favorite restaurant gift card. We’re not well-to-do. I can tell from reading posts on CC, that many here are. Considering teachers have opened many of the doors of success through which students walk, giving many pats of encouragement along the way, thanking teachers and counselors in sincere intangible AND tangible ways should always be a priority. This includes appropriate times throughout the school year.</p>
<p>A thoughtful recommendation takes several hours to write. Add to this reprinting copies and re-editing on demand to fit a college or scholarship’s requirements and you can easily have asked a teacher for half a work day. </p>
<p>While your teachers surely love you - they absolutely do love their students and helping them achieve, you bet. They do not love so much the cabinets and drawers full of trinkets. Neither do they love the mountains of goodies that make it to school crumbled or stale, which if consumed would put one in a diabetic coma.</p>
<p>The teachers to whom my son gave sweatshirts have proudly worn them to school on spirit days and have warmly mentioned the fun they and their families had enjoying the gift cards. </p>
<p>If you could buy a recommendation in order to attend your dream school, what would you pay?</p>
<p>Sorry for the title of last post - I should have read the entire thread. Seems most have the right idea. </p>
<p>In my volunteering, I’ve noticed schools with a high percentage on free lunch also seem to have high volume ice cream sales. I’ve inquired and found teachers and lunch room monitors agree that those who don’t pay for lunch purchase a disproportionate amount of the ice cream sold. (Since these sales provide school slush funds, no one complains.)</p>
<p>It remains that we afford the things that are most important to us.</p>
<p>Getalifemom–you make a very good point. School teachers I know do a LOT of work putting out recommendations. Especially in an era where kids are applying to 10-20 colleges. In addition to writing dozens of unique letters, can you imagine how difficult it is to send out 20 different packages for even one kid? It really can take half a day, and that’s time spent above and beyond the classroom. Nobody has to do anything, of course, but I know that teachers get a lot of mugs, chocolate, potted plants, etc. Not that they aren’t appreciated, but sometimes a slightly more unique or practical approach might be nice. Unique could be a special little gift from your culture–some presents a teacher friend who was interested in Asian culture got: a special bottle opener from India, a Korean letter opener or practical (gift card for Barnes and Noble is nice because it is a way of subtly complimenting the teacher on the fact that he or she is likely to be a reader, or something general, like a Target giftcard is very versatile. I can imagine some gift cards could be a little too uncomfortable or intimate–Don’t try giving the teacher the Victoria’s Secret gift card, for instance! Or Jenny Craig! But in any case, a thank you letter is always nice.</p>
<p>Some of the prior posts have mentioned school-related items (mugs, etc). At the time our oldest was sending out thank you notes, we happened to be visiting the university she had chosen to attend, and at the bookstore we found blank note cards with a pencil sketch of the campus. They made great thank you cards! I’ll best most university bookstores carry something similar.</p>
<p>I love the cookies idea – I think we’ll incorporate that this time around. Thanks.</p>
<p>Honestly, people, any gift is nice. But if you’re trying to think of something a teacher would like to have, why not think of something a teacher would like to have. What is a teacher honestly going to do with 5000 mugs of some college he didn’t go to? Or with notecards from some school she didn’t attend? Does he or she LIKE potted plants? Or chocolate? How many sweatshirts, Tshirts, etc. from some random place does he or she need? It’s not that any gift is not appreciated. But it might be nice to consider who is receiving the gift, not just who is giving it.</p>
<p>lol @ the self-righteousness in this thread.</p>
<p>Personally I just gave both teachers their first (and probably last) Harvard sweatshirt.</p>
<p>When D was accepted and attended admitted students’ day she bought very nice pens in the bookstore and gave them with a note thanking them for writing a letter for her. Teachers really seemed to like them. </p>
<p>The spring of her freshman year in college, I stopped by the counseling office shortly after Christmas with a plate of bagels and cream cheese and told them I remembered they needed sustenance at that time of the year (we don’t have any other kids in school so I figured it wouldn’t be seen as “buttering up” the staff).</p>
<p>Hi everyone!</p>
<p>This seems like a great thread, and I just have one question about recommendation thank yous. When is the most appropriate time to give your teachers a thank you letter for writing you a recommendation? After you’ve been admitted and have decided to go somewhere? Or after letters have been sent out?</p>
<p>I just attended an accepted students’ day, and I sent my deposit into the university. Does it look bad if I give my teacher a thank you now? I feel as though I should have given her one after she wrote me a letter of recommendation, but my friend said most people wait until they have chosen a school. I hope it won’t be awkward when I give my teacher her thank you note and gift. :(</p>
<p>Thanks for your help, everyone!</p>
<p>I think any time before you graduate HS is fine. Waiting until your decision is finalized enables you to let them know formally of the final outcome.</p>
<p>D is going to write thank-you notes on notecards with her college’s seal on the front. One teacher will be getting a pennant from the school, because he collects them and displays them in his classroom, and because she’s particularly close with that teacher.</p>
<p>I know this thread is a few weeks old, but I am trying to get my thank-you notes and mugs into my teachers tomorrow, and I have a question re:thank you notes… should I tell them all of the schools I was accepted to, or just the one I plan to attend? I am happy to be going to my match-school, but I want to make sure that they know that their letters helped me get into some of my reaches.</p>
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<p>“Thank you so much for letters you wrote on my behalf. I received acceptances to several excellent schools; I chose __________. I feel very fortunate.”</p>
<p>Or something like that!</p>