<p>My son wants to give his teachers who wrote him recommendations and his GC hand written thank you notes. He asked me and I'm not sure - is there a protocol for this? When he was younger we would always enclose a gift card to Starbucks or something with an end of the year thank you note, but not sure if this is appropriate in this circumstance. Would like to hear what others have done. Thanks</p>
<p>My sons wrote/write handwritten thank you notes as soon as they are aware that the recommendation has been submitted. I had suggested a small gift card to be included in their notes, but they both voted NO! on that one. Several of the recommenders responded saying how pleased they were to receive a “handwritten” thank you note - stating that doesn’t happen too often anymore and how much they appreciated it. </p>
<p>Both of my kids hand wrote thank you notes and enclosed Barnes & Noble gift cards (except for one teacher who was a huge Starbucks fan, she got a Starbucks card, natch). This is fairly standard in the schools they attended. </p>
<p>In my experience, a handwritten thank you note is always appropriate. I’m impressed that your son thought of that on his own! 
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<p>A note for a recommendation when applying for a college is fine. I always thought that a small gift card would be nice if I wrote a recommendation letter for a scholarship especially if the student received the scholarship, after all, I did help them get money. I have never received either despite all the letters of recommendations I have written. </p>
<p>My kids did handwritten notes and small boxes of gourmet chocolates from the college towns. They actually waited till they got into colleges and had decided where they were going. My younger son wrote a particularly gushy letter to his GC about how fantastic her letter must have been because he got into so many reachy colleges. She called me up in tears she was so moved. Apparently GCs don’t get a lot of love. </p>
<p>D wrote notes; we included gift cards that varied based on what we knew about the teachers’ interests. She has also stayed in touch with several teachers, meeting for coffee or lunch a couple of times a year when home on breaks. A couple of them have said that this continuing contact has been very meaningful, as in our big city they often never see or hear from their former students again.</p>
<p>My D sent those several months ago with small gifts attached. I know my friend put in $25 gift card in each instead.</p>
<p>Like most of the others here, my child wrote thank you notes and enclosed a gift card to Starbucks. Thank you notes feel mandatory to me, it takes a heafty amount of time to write these letters. </p>
<p>I agree about the thank you notes being “mandatory.” Gifts are optional and could be tailored to the individuals and the school culture. </p>
<p>A greeting card with a handwritten note goes a long way. The people who wrote letters for Lake Jr. told him they appreciated the cards a lot.</p>
<p>D sent hand written notes to both and included a $10 dunkin donuts gift card in each. Both were big coffee drinkers.</p>
<p>D bought thank you cards, wrote a short note of appreciation and we included a gift card for the 3 individuals who wrote most of her recommendations. I know one of the teachers often did the letters or answered the emails with the internet directions in the evenings. I felt it was only appropriate for my D to thank him for his time.</p>
<p>My D baked cookies for her teachers who provided recommendations.</p>
<p>My kids wrote thank you notes. The teachers who wrote references were amongst their favorite teachers. We gave each a gift card too. BUT, we didn’t send them until after final exams.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the good ideas. S is waiting until after finals and has decided to include a gift card to Amazon with the notes. :)</p>
<p>Son successfully delivered four thank-you notes to teachers and GC after his graduation ceremony. One of them cried. :)</p>
<p>Gift cards sound really tacky to me.</p>
<p>I gave handwritten notes to my recommenders, but no additional gift. </p>
<p>When my D gave those thank you notes and gifts to the teachers, one of them responded by saying “your success would be the best gift to me”. </p>