<p>S has shocked me by saying he wants a class ring. I thought they were totally out of vogue, and son is not a “joiner” type. </p>
<p>Did your kid buy one? Kids, did you get one?</p>
<p>The schools I’ve gone to that have class rings had a ton of meaning behind their class rings.</p>
<p>For high school, I went to a girls’ school that had a ceremony for when you received your senior ring and your uniform blazer (seniors had white blazers, everyone else had dark blazers). All the rings were the same, though I seem to recall a choice between gold and white gold. You could get your name inscribed on the inside of the ring, but that’s all the personalization that was involved with it. The design has not changed for generations. I think there were two girls my year who did <em>not</em> get a senior ring (though there were a few girls who didn’t purchase a ring-- they wore their mother’s, or their grandmother’s!). I wore my class ring up until I got my college ring.</p>
<p>For undergrad, I went to Rice, and there’s a sizeable margin of alumni who still wear their class rings. The majority of my friends wear their Rice rings. It’s kind of like the brass rat or the Aggie ring… There’s little variation between the available versions of the ring, and it’s a point of school pride at a school that people are proud to go to. Again, it’s been the same design for generations. I still wear mine.</p>
<p>Very few at D’s school get them. Some parents give their kids a choice between letter jacket or ring. D1 and D2 wanted jackets. They start at approximately $200. Each patch runs between $6 and $20. Then it is approximately $6-$10 to have them sewn on jacket. It can be very expensive after 4 years! I think the ring might have been cheaper!</p>
<p>As for college rings…don’t have any friends from college who got them and neither does H. Good thing he was saving for a more important ring! ;)</p>
<p>My son also got a class ring and it surprised me. He still wears it some as a junior in college! My daughter proudly wears her Rice ring, too!</p>
<p>If you’re only going to get one in your life, make it your college ring. You won’t wear your high school ring after college, but if you’re the sort of person who likes class rings, you might wear your college ring for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>My Dad got his college class ring in the 40s and when he is gone that will be the item people fight over, he has always worn it and it is just so him.</p>
<p>My DD is wondering about getting a college ring, like Grandpa. No one got HS rings</p>
<p>Neither of my sons were interested in their HS class rings, but my older son was not going to miss getting his Brass Rat (MIT class ring), no way no how. Every year the ring is designed in secret by a committee of students, so each year’s is different, and it’s filled with in-jokes and subtleties (the hacker’s map on the inside!) and is usually a very handsome ring. It’s the first piece of jewelry I’ve ever seen him wear, and I predict he will wear it throughout his life.</p>
<p>[MIT</a> class ring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_class_ring]MIT”>MIT class ring - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>My own college ring was stolen in a home-invasion burglary about 15 years ago. (Hmm… I wonder if one can replace one’s college ring, mumbledy-man years later…)</p>
<p>I plan on wearing my college ring for the foreseeable future, but it’s a sleek titanium band that doesn’t get in the way.</p>
<p>Son just got his class ring last week. He’s a junior; they ordered at the end of sophomore year. </p>
<p>There was a ceremony in the evening and families attended. Kids were expected to dress up. A few remarks about the school’s ring tradition, a musical number, a walk across the stage for the principal to present your ring, and a pro photog “grip n grin” picture. Afterward, refreshments in the cafeteria.</p>
<p>In the program for the evening, I counted 170 recipients. There are 312 kids in the class. So that’s 54% participation. It seems to be a big deal at this school. (Even the class advisors sent out ring ceremony “countdown” emails and reminders a few times.) Ring Ceremony night was all the buzz for Son and his friends for over two weeks leading up to the event. And he’s not really a gung-ho type, either.</p>
<p>I was the only one in my high school class who chose not to get the school ring (despite going to a girls school that was either the same one aibarr went to or awfully similar). </p>
<p>However, like Mootmom’s son, I <em>had</em> to have my brass rat. I don’t wear it as much as I used to, though.</p>
<p>S1 was not interested in a h.s. ring. I was afraid he might regret it so we ordered the least expensive one. I think he wore it twice. He’s now a senior in college and does not want a college ring. I’ll take his word for it this time.</p>
<p>S2 really wanted a h.s ring and wore it alot at first, then lost it. We ordered a replacement (a a pretty minimal cost). By the time it came in, he was in PE (a weight lifitng class ) and got out of the habit of wearing it. He (now college fresh.) keeps it in his truck now and wears it very occassionally.</p>
<p>My first 2 got the hs ring. It’s highly marketed by Jostens (the same folks who have moved from yearbooks to everything graduation). Both wore them until they left for college, deposited them in my jewelry box and promptly forgot about them. Last kid in line decided she didn’t want one - why pay for something you only want for a year or two?<br>
If your kid decides he or she wants one and you can’t take the price of the school sponsored ones, look at chain stores like walmart or online. Lots of choices that look identical to the major suppliers.
For college, it either matters a lot (Aggie, brass rat, etc) or not at all. I didn’t know anyone with a college ring from my PAC-10 school.</p>
<p>I like my high school class ring. It’s the school seal and everything is written backwards so that if you use it with sealing wax it comes out right way around. I still wear it.</p>
<p>At my son’s HS, I don’t know anyone who got a ring and only a few got letter jackets. At chapel hill and my med school few got them.
I know none of us wore our HS ring or jacket once in college.</p>
<p>Both my daughter and son got high school rings. D wanted her college ring as soon as it was available and still wears it 2 1/2 years after graduation. S is a soph. and deciding if he is going to get his college ring.</p>
<p>I graduated from USC in '99 and still wear my class ring. They are very popular here. I shouldn’t have gotten a high school one, never wore it.</p>
<p>I didn’t get a HS class ring, but since my dad has worn his VMI class ring since he graduated, I would really like to get a class ring for college. Not a huge one like he has (I literally can’t keep his on my finger for too long–too heavy), but a band, maybe.</p>
<p>D did not want a HS class ring, but wore her letterman proudly until graduation.</p>
<p>She is, however, looking forward to getting her Rice ring! She has the required hours, but it’s too early on their timeline.</p>
<p>I bought my S a HS class ring. It’s still in the box.
No one in the family bought any college class rings.</p>
<p>2 kids went to a HS that did not really do rings; third one went to a HS that encouraged rings, but we bought a lovely ring at the jewelry store that represents a class ring in her mind, but she wears it all the time and it is pretty, so Josten’s class rings are saved for college, but we still gave a nod to the tradition at that HS ;)</p>