<p>$5 Tim Hortons (like Dunkin Donuts) gift card and simple card...Dear Mr. X, Thank you for writing a recommendation on my behalf. I appreciate your help! Sincerely, You</p>
<p>My teachers were pleasantly surprised! :)</p>
<p>A card with a nice, thoughtful message. Some homemade treats or crafts. Anything that you put heart and personal effort into--just like they did for your recommendation.</p>
<p>"Dear Mr. X, Thank you for writing a recommendation on my behalf. I appreciate your help! Sincerely, You"</p>
<p>That's better than nothing, but I think that since they probably put a considerable amount of time into your recommendation, it would be best to put more thought into your thank-you.</p>
<p>After all, I doubt if you'd have been happy if they had written a recommendation that said, "Dear Admissions Officer, I recommend [name of student} for admission. I'm sure that s/he'll do fine at your college. Sincerely."</p>
<p>A $5 gift card doesn't make up for a perfunctory thank-you note. It's far better to put some effort and thought into a nice handwritten note than to spend even big bucks for a thank-you gift.</p>
<p>I haven't taught college for years, but still keep the thank-you notes that I received from students. Those are what kept me going during the challenging times.</p>
<p>Maybe we overdid it. My son's EA school lost everything (or it did not get there) and it was a frantic rush to get his teachers to re-fax all of which was above and beyond what they were asked to do. He also had a lot of schools. We got (inexpensive) baskets and filled with a mug and scone mix and tea bags and tiny jam jars. It was actually pretty inexpensive but once we wrapped it all in cellophane it looked like a lot and he wrote cards. However, one of the teachers had also written for another kid and both teachers had my kid for two years and I have been involved at the school for years. We also gave the same thing to the college counselor who has helped me a lot in our parent organization to put on meetings, etc. I felt that since all the work was done, it couldn't be seen as a bribe -- and we didn't know results. I also felt these were public school teachers who probably don't get a lot of appreciation. I hope it didn't make the uncomfortable.</p>
<p>I gave each of my teachers a thank you card mentioning what I enjoyed in their class, how they have helped me, and that I appreciate them. </p>
<p>But, I gave a necklace/earrings ($15) for one of my teachers b/c I noticed she always wears jewelry, scarves, and other little things like that to go with her outfits. I just thought she might like it.</p>
<p>For the other, she completely loves Star Wars, so I got her a Star Wars clock (also $15).</p>
<p>I never intend to bribe my teachers, and I didn't even mention the recommendations in my thank you notes. They were just Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Break gifts since it's a big shopping season and things are on sale a lot. :] lol</p>
<p>I do plan, however, to give them both thank you notes in January (after they have sent in the recs) and when I get my acceptances and make a choice.</p>
<p>I agree with the above post. I hope it doesn't seem like a bribe or it makes them uncomfortable. I just know how much work they put into their classes...and I wanted to show my appreciation. I didn't have parental involvement. Winter time just seems like a good time - with all of the shopping - to give gifts. It seems more like a bribe to me if it is smack dab in November or something. I'm not sure.</p>
<p>Sorry to hijack your thread, but I didn't want to make a new topic. My teacher from last year wrote my recommendation, but she retired and no longer works at my school. Would it be too much to ask the school for her address and send her flowers, chocolates, or something of the sort? She was an extremely nice teacher and I adore her, but I don't want to be creepy! : P Also, when do you give your gifts to your teachers? I wanted to do something for Christmas but I am going on break soon, so I might not be able to - would mid April, when I get acceptance letters back, be too late?</p>
<p>Anyway, to answer your question - I plan on getting my teacher, who is my AP Art History teacher with a great sense of humor, an action figure of an artist and some other things pertaining to art. : P</p>
<p>would chocolates be a good gift along with a letter of course.</p>
<p>DON'T. That's bribery, and the teachers will look at you differently. I made the same mistake, except.. it was just.. plain dumb. </p>
<p>I happened to have some star bucks bottles with me, and I gave two of them to my teacher after school as a "thank you" for what he did for me. He refused, but I insisted. A day later I found out he was Mormon and he couldn't drink coffee. Just don't. They honestly don't care what you give them. It won't help you.</p>
<p>why would it be bribery? my counselor and three teachers already wrote my recommendation letters, and I got accepted to my number choice school. i wanted to give them a personal hand-written letter along with a gift to say thank you, but i'm not sure what gift i should give them. i know it shouldnt be too much, so i was thinking about chocolates. i don't get why people keep saying it's bribery when they already wrote my recommendations and i'm all set in knowing where i'm attending next fall.</p>
<p>why would it be bribery? my counselor and three teachers already wrote my recommendation letters, and I got accepted to my number choice school. i wanted to give them a personal hand-written letter along with a gift to say thank you for their time, but i'm not sure what gift i should give them. i know it shouldnt be too much, so i was thinking about chocolates. i don't get why people keep saying it's bribery when they already wrote my recommendations and i'm all set in knowing where i'm attending next fall.</p>
<p>Just go up to them and thank them personally, or right before or during winter vacation, write them a card or include it in a Christmas/holiday card. I don't think it's necessary to provide a gift or compensation, as the phrase "its the thought that counts" definitely applies. Most teachers are glad to help out, and are even more glad if you are accepted to the school(s) which you applied (since it often reflects very well on them), so make sure you let them know quickly if you do.</p>
<p>I actually wanted to give them thank you gifts after the regular decisions come out in April, but is it better to give it to them now with the Holiday season? Not sure</p>
<p>if you are pretty "tight" with the teacher, just walk up to them and give em a big old hug...</p>
<p>You know the Staples "Easy" button. Well you can buy them, apparently it comes in Spanish ("facil") too. So I think I'm getting this for my Spanish teacher who wrote for me. I'm also trying to think of a clever gift for my chem teacher.... ( I already wrote them both thank you notes for recs they turned in earlier for EA). </p>
<p>But.. should I wait until they've mailed everything? I also feel sketchy/creepy about the bribing issue.</p>
<p>I wrote thank-you cards.</p>
<p>Thank you cards are good. But really, I just came up to them later and thanked them.</p>
<p>Each of the GC's at my school have a staples easy button and many other buttons that play music when pressed. Whenever someone gets accepted to a college, the student presses the button. One of the GCs at my school is known to dance at the same time. Recently, someone at my school was accepted somewhere (someplace good, but I forgot) and the button played "I'm Walking on Sunshine." LOL.</p>
<p>Does the note have to be handwritten? Sometimes I can't even read my handwriting.</p>
<p>A thank you note seems thoughtful. A gift seems a little weird to me because no matter how you do it, it seems like quid pro quo. But that's just me. It's their job to write letters of recommendation. Plus gifts seems like something a mom would think of and do, not the student!</p>
<p>Yesterday my D informed me that some families at her school were giving teachers Best Buy gift certificates to the tune of $200!!! She asked me if we were obliged to do the same. I was flabbergasted. Worse, one kid actually approached one of the teachers to ask how much was appropriate to give him. What is wrong with these people? Isn't this totally inappropriate, or am I out of it?
My D wrote very nice thankyou cards to the two teachers who wrote her recommendations, including the particulars of how those teachers have guided and inspired her. They are heartfelt, thoughtful and lovely. If I were a teacher, such notes would mean a great deal to me, far more than any monetary gift.
The only "gift", in addition to a thank you letter, that my D gave was to her GC: a Starbucks gift card, as she's known to frequent the local Starbucks.</p>
<p>$200?!?!?!?</p>
<p>I'm just keeping my teachers up to date on my acceptances, and they're more than happy to have helped me out...it'd feel weird to get them anything more then a token thing (thoughtful).</p>