<p>Did your kid do more than a thank you card or a box of chocolate?</p>
<p>My dd’s recommenders are all out of town (we homeschool and she takes online classes) so we sent Amazon GCs and she sent a snail mail note.</p>
<p>after my daughter made her final decision she sent a thank you note; in the note, she discussed the school she now attends and how the class the teacher taught will help her in her future endeavors…</p>
<p>After the apps were in, ds wrote each a thank-you note and baked them an apple pie, his speciality. The teacher who is a diabetic got a Starbuck’s GC instead of the pie.</p>
<p>D sent a thank you note to all. I plan to send one to GC at end of school year when D knows where she is going, just to update and thank her for her work with D over the years. Coming from a family of teachers, not me, I think a heartfelt thank you is what is most appreciated.</p>
<p>wrote them thank you cards and got them each a $25 gift card to Olive Garden…</p>
<p>not making a judgment about the previous posts, but neither I nor any teacher my children asked for LOR’s would have appreciated anything material. A LOR is part of the job, even though technically it is at the teacher’s discretion. </p>
<p>I insisted that my children write thank-you notes, and I also insisted that they inform their recommenders of any good admissions results, immediately – as a courtesy & an additional sign of gratitude.</p>
<p>(I know; I’m tough.)</p>
<p>Recommendations are not part of the job. Sorry, I disagree. It is a nice thing to do but it is an additional service. I know lots of teachers who don’t write LOR.</p>
<p>Son wrote thank you notes immediately and ended them saying he’d let them know where he got in in the spring. I then ordered coffee mugs from the school he chose and had the florist make arrangements in some and used lollipops and other candy in others. Attached a note of something like… the winner is… and then said thanks again for all they did to support him in the process.</p>
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<p>How creative!</p>
<p>A bottle of wine to drink or regift. I hope the former, I know I needed it!</p>
<p>I think that a thank you note is really all that is neccessary and what most people do. Anything other than that is above and beyond the call, but can be done at your discretion, depending on how much money/time/effort you or your kid want to put in, how close they are to the teacher, etc. Teachers don’t really expect more than a thank you note, and one that is hand written and honestly expressed is as touching as anything bought or made. </p>
<p>If you do decide to get a gift, stick to edible things or flowers (the mug idea is cute, though).</p>
<p>Modadunn, to those who consider ourselves more traditional in terms of the ethics of the profession, we do indeed consider LOR’s part of the job. That doesn’t mean that an individual letter is required for an individual student – for reasons that are obvious & covered in many previous threads. But once agreed to voluntarily, it’s considered part of the overall responsibility, without expectation of a material reward. Again, fine if families feel so impelled to do that, but teachers that I personally respect do not consider it necessary or even flattering to receive something material. They do, however, consider it thoughtful to be notified of results, and are touched by written acknowledgements as well.</p>
<p>I totally agree with epiphany, perhaps it is not in the actual job description but I know that every teacher and other individuals that my D asked to write an LOR were just happy that they were asked. Each wrote an individual and personal LOR for each college / university (6 in total) she applied to. Our D made a point of seeing them personally and thanking them for the letters and then sent each of them an email with the results.</p>
<p>Fair enough Epiphany. Our kids’ teachers are typically wonderful about recommendations and when they say they will write a letter of recommendation, they write the letter and don’t necessarily just check the boxes etc that are on the common application form. </p>
<p>But while it may be considered part and parcel of teaching juniors and seniors in high school, I think it is absolutely necessary for students to write the thank you note at the very least. Not all families are in the position to offer “gifts” and so no, I do not think those are expected.</p>
<p>A $25 GC to Olive Garden seems like a lot. I would think something a bit more token, like a $5 or $10 card to Starbucks, would be fine. It’s really the thank-you, not the gift itself, IMO.</p>
<p>D wrote a thank you note and gave a $25 gift card to our local Houlihan’s restaurant (after the recs were submitted of course). The teachers and counselor were delighted to receive the gift card.</p>
<p>My S wrote a personal note (no prompting from me!) and a $10 gift card to Panera. It’s near the school.</p>
<p>We thank-you notes with $20 giftcards to the neighborhood bookstore (the owner is a friend so double-good). I’m sure they didn’t “expect” anything, but I don’t see it as “part of their job” since they are often done on their own time.</p>
<p>A thank you note and either a chocolate bar or homemade cookies, depending on the teacher.</p>
<p>In addition to heartfelt thank you notes from S and from me, I got them each a box of local chocolates. And we let them know where he was accepted–10 out of 10! The LOR we saw was glowing. I was very grateful. I also made cookies and candy for all of his teachers every Christmas and Valentines Day.</p>