<p>One question; I am planning on sending a thank-you card to each teacher who have written my recommendation. Should I give those cards now, or later(maybe after the decision come out)?? Comment please.</p>
<p>My D gave the gifts to the teachers before the Christmas break. I would give it to them now, maybe with a note of any acceptances you have already received. I think its better to give it now, just in case you need a follow up note for a scholarship or something from them.</p>
<p>It probably is regional, but we gave gift certificates to local mall. EVERY teacher, every year, gets one. The recommenders got more, and S gave GC a pen. As sidenote, math teacher deserved every penny; he had driven son to math competitions, etc. The teacher in charge of Academic Games used to drop my S at home. When teachers are so generous, any thank-you note/gift is deserved and appreciated.</p>
<p>A hand-written note, and a nominal gift always seem appropriate to me. A $100 gift certificate to a dept store??? What???? That does seem a little tacky/over the top. If someone was wealthy enough that $100 per teacher/recommender is "reasonable", that's the time to start thinking about foundations or charities. Writing a recommendation seems like a special favor that would deserve a personal gift, rather than a general donation in someone's name. Now I've been considering giving gifts to my daughter's high school teachers at the end of this year as she graduates - perhaps a donation to the foundation in all their names, with a card for each.</p>
<p>Female teachers often like flowers. I don't know about male teachers, though. Be sure to write a thank-you, too. </p>
<p>When you write to say how you are doing in college, don't just tell about your activities. Ask about your teacher's interests, too.</p>
<p>We all agree on the thank you notes. Depending on the school district policy, (NYC limits gifts to $5 for a teacher) gift certificates to book stores are nice. Donations to scholarship funds or favorite charities are also very acceptable.</p>
<p>A genuine thank-you note from the heart and progress reports every once in a while - they have been doing their jobs to some degree if you are going to college.</p>
<p>And the assistant??? nice thank you note also if they did do any grunt work - tho in our case - they did nothing!!!!!!! We did it all in order to get things out on time - uugghhh - we even did the mailings.</p>
<p>Adjlad--the teacher might not feel comfortable wearing insignia apparel, especially from a school that (s)he did not attend. Maybe if your high school has insignia gifts, that might be more appropriate.</p>
<p>A caveat on gift cards: I've heard that stores in some states don't give credit for the entire amount by placing a surcharge on use of the cards. Best to check first.</p>