<p>Will he think it’s a bribe?
Is a thank-you card okay?
Then, what kind of gift should I give?</p>
<p>By the way, it’s not for college. It’s for scholarships.</p>
<p>No, letters are part of their job .</p>
<p>^
I agree. It probably would seem like a bribe as well.</p>
<p>A “thank you” note would be fine. I would show the courtesy of informing him/her of your college selection in the spring.</p>
<p>Once you decide where you’re going in the Spring, why don’t you get a TShirt of the school you’re attending and give that as a gift? I know plenty of teachers also get baked goods too. It’s a nice thing to do.</p>
<p>I like the T-shirt idea.</p>
<p>A thank you note (perhaps written in the spring once you’ve made your final decision) would be classy. If you want to, you could enclose a small gift - Starbucks gift card or something small you know they person will like. A teacher who is a golfer might enjoy a few new golf balls, for example.</p>
<p>We gave the teachers Visa gift cards once all the apps were in (including their recs).
Other son gave his two teachers (they were dating) a gift certificate for a price fix meal at a local highly regarded french restaurant.</p>
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<p>In a way, yes, and in a way, no. Writing recommendation letters comes with the territory when you teach 11th or 12th grade, but I was never compensated or relieved from other duties so that I would have time to write letters for students. And I’ve never met any other teacher who has been.</p>
<p>Most teachers appreciate a “thank you.” I did, and I sometimes felt a little taken advantage of on the rare occasions when students didn’t acknowledge the favor I had done them. A note is sufficient; at least, IMO. If you’re feeling more grateful than that, a modest gift–after the applications are all in, and perhaps even in the spring after notifications have come–would not be inappropriate.</p>
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<p>I agree. They are a part of the job, but in theory, you can be pretty hard to please when it comes to writing letters. I understand this is a high school thread, but as reference, it is pretty common for professors at the university level to feel they can’t write particularly strong reference letters for a given candidate for graduate school.</p>
<p>I would say it’s sort of like being a good teacher. While it may be satisfying and all that, especially as a professor in college, it doesn’t get you very much (plenty of lukewarm teachers who are brilliant researchers are looked highly upon).</p>
<p>So it’s really partially out of good will. However, you shouldn’t be ashamed to ask for a letter, because it is their duty to at least expect students to wish letters.</p>
<p>If you’d like to enclose a token of your appreciation and it’s genuine, along with a thoughtful note, I don’t think it’ll be viewed as bribery. I think if you walk in with 5 hundred dollar bills and a sparkling smile, asking “Can you write me a letter?!” it might be a different story, though.</p>
<p>I think a thoughtful, well-written and detailed thank you note explaining what that teacher has meant to you and what you appreciated about them and their class(es) is among the best thanks a teacher can receive. And send a copy to the principal or dept. head while you are at it. You can never go wrong expressing heartfelt appreciation and respect that goes into someone’s personnel file.</p>
<p>i definetly am giving my teachers something- like cookies or starbucks because its tough to write recs and theyre going out of their way to do it, so its always nice to be appreciated:)</p>